


In the World

by JBK405



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canada, Canon Character of Color, Canon Compliant, Canon Queer Character of Color, F/F, Female Character of Color, Fish out of Water, Fugitives, Geographical Isolation, Language Barrier, On the Run, Physical Disability, Physical Therapy, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Road Trips, Survival, Transported to the real world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-11 14:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 145
Words: 251,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3330158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JBK405/pseuds/JBK405
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Korra and Asami decide to briefly return to the physical world to check on how things are going during their vacation, they find themselves instead stuck on an icy tundra that does not seem to obey any of the accepted rules of the North Pole.  As they struggle to survive, they encounter more and more oddities that do not match the world they know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Waste of Ice

"Are you sure you don't mind?" asked Korra before they stepped through the portal. "We could just keep walking. I mean, there's so much I haven't shown you yet and we were going to go for another week and..." She trailed off, unsure of how to continue, as Asami smiled at her.

"It's fine Korra. I know Jinora said it wasn't urgent, but she wouldn't have contacted you in the first place if it wasn't more important than she tried to let on. Neither of us will be able to relax until you speak to Tenzin and get the details on what's happening. Besides, this way we can check in with everybody else and catch up on the news. I'm just surprised you don't want to go to the South Pole instead." Asami nodded across the valley to the other Spirit Portal, which would have lead back to Korra's home in the south instead of to the Northern Water Tribe.

"I thought about it, but it's only been a week and my mom and dad probably aren't back yet. They were going to stay in Republic City for a few days, and it almost wouldn't be like home without them there. Just an empty house and...oh, I'm so sorry." Korra broke off suddenly when she realized that she would be reminding Asami again of the loss of her own family, but to her surprise Asami smiled and waved it off.

"You never need to apologize, Korra, not for your family. I love your parents, and I understand completely. Now let's go, the sooner we reach a radio station and find out what has Tenzin so worried in the Fire Nation, the sooner we can come back."

At that, Asami grabbed Korra's hand and walked her into the Spirit Portal. Korra, for her part, had nothing else to say once Asami took hold of her hand. It had been only a week since the two of them stepped into the Republic City portal for their vacation in the Spirit World, and the very tentative first steps into their own relationship, and the magic that came from simply holding Asami's hand had not left Korra's heart yet. Smiling, she stepped up behind Asami as the light of the Spirit Portal overwhelmed them both.

Unfortunately, the smile was knocked off her face as she was hit by wall of arctic air colder than anything she had experienced.

"What's going on?" Asami asked, looking around and already shivering under the blistering temperature. "I though the spiritual energy kept the area around the portal warm."

"It does," said Korra, "and it shouldn't be this cold, anyway." She was starting to shiver herself, even though she had begun firebending almost as soon as the cold hit her. "It never gets this cold at the South Pole except the middle of winter." When another gust of air hit them, she added "If it even gets this cold at all."

Korra and Asami quickly took off their packs and began to pull out the additional warm clothing they had packed, but there was not much of it. They had started their vacation from the much warmer climate of Republic City and had not planned to come to the North Pole at all, packing what minimal warm clothing they had as a token gesture and from Water Tribe tradition. They were already wearing much of it in the expectation of the cool air of the area around the portal, and had planned on getting proper gear from the Northern Water Tribe soldiers that would have been nearby before they ventured out into the cold wastes. Now they rushed to add what additional layers they could as Korra used her firebending and waterbending to stave off the worst.

"Where are the soldiers?" Korra asked as she looked around. "They should be here to watch over the portal."

"I have a better question. Where's the **portal**?" Asami's voice was flat, like she was trying to keep any emotion at all from coming through, but her surprise leaked out regardless. With a gasp Korra turned around and noticed that Asami was correct: The Spirit Portal was gone. There also was no sign of the thawed forest which should have surrounded the portal, nor any evidence that it had ever been there at all. The two of them were alone on a waste of ice and snow that stretched uninterrupted to all horizons.

\----

"First problem on the ice is cold, everything else comes after. You can go without food or water for days, and the odds of an animal attack are tiny, but the cold can get you in hours or even minutes. So, you deal with the cold first."

Asami could tell that Korra was not talking to her exactly, but was running through the survival training she had gone through in her youth. She was speaking almost in a monotone, reciting the lessons that had been drilled into her by her parents first and then the Order of the White Lotus as they trained her to survive the vast tundra that covered the South Pole. Half was for her own benefit, and half was to keep Asami focused.

"Firebending works in the short term, but you can't keep it up while you sleep or when you're doing other work. So, to beat the cold you need shelter. For shelter, snow insulates, and you'll probably have a lot of it to work with."

Her voice had a brief touch of warmth on the patently obvious end of the last sentence, then resumed its calm recitation.

"If you have time, build up. If you don't have that luxury, dig down. Learn from the animals that are born to the snow, they know how to use it to survive. Polar bear-dogs dig down to hibernate in the snow, take lessons from them."

As she spoke, Korra was walking in a wide circle, pacing out the area she would enclose in the shelter she was going to construct. She had never raised a structure in its entirety all at once before, and she needed it to be flawless. For her own sake, and for Asami's.

"Make sure your walls are strong enough to withstand the wind and the roof is sturdy enough to support any new snowfall. The environment is your enemy here. The cold **will** kill you if you give it a chance. Do not give it that chance."

Korra stopped and stared at the area she had marked off with her long strides, then burst into a flurry of motion. Long, wide arm movements drew up snow in wide sheets, then coalesced into solidity as she resumed her pacing and began to circle with her arms. The walls thickened at the base and leaned inward, meeting at the center in a dome as perfectly spherical as the human eye could detect. There would normally be a chimney left open at the top, but Korra and Asami had seen no wood with which to make a fire and so Korra had formed a solid surface. A single opening was left on one side for them to enter, after they waited a few moments to make sure it would not collapse under its own weight.

Asami gasped as she saw the shelter rise whole from the ground. She had seen Korra perform much grander and more powerful bending feats before, but nothing as precise. This was not an issure of power, which the Avatar had and to spare, but was an example of her focus and clarity.

"Wow, Korra, it's fantastic."

Korra smiled, although even that was shaky from the cold and her lips had long since turned blue. "Thanks, but we should get inside and warm up as quickly as we can. Then we can try to figure out what's going on."

Moments later they and their packs were inside, huddled together as they dug through their supplies for whatever they had available. Their small cooking stove was set up for its meager heat and they huddled under blankets as Korra kept a small flame going for as long as she could.

After the heat began to sink back into their bones, Asami asked the question that had been on both of their minds. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"No, and I was hoping you did. I didn't recognize any of the area where we arrived, I don't think we're at the Northern Spirit Portal."

"But if we're not at the Northern Spirit Portal, where are we? The _Southern_ Spirit Portal?"

"No, the portals don't connect like that, you can't go through one and come out the other. Plus, this definitely isn't the South Pole. We _should_ be at the North Pole exactly like we planned. Did you notice anything?"

Asami reflected that a few years ago Korra would have been fuming at the situation, practically enraged at the universe for not working like it was supposed to. That, or she would have been enraged at herself, self-critical over her inability to solve the problem instantly. Now, even though she was clearly confused and worried, she was calm enough to consider and discuss. It made Asami smile at how much she had grown. How much they had _both_ grown.

"I didn't notice anything, but traveling to the Spirit World isn't my area of expertise. You've done it a lot more than I have and have the history with Raava to guide you."

"I know, and I probably should know what's going on, but..." now the frustration _did_ begin to creep into Korra's voice, but even now it was subdued and controlled.

"Don't worry," Asami soothed, "we'll figure it out, no matter what this is. We've got food for days, which should give us time to find somebody, and....and we've got each other." She blushed at that, or would have if she had been warm enough to blush, but she meant it. She reached out and took Korra's hand that wasn't maintaining a ball of flame, holding it tight. "We'll be okay."

Korra looked down at their intertwined fingers and smiled, already reassured. Even though she was the one who actually had the experience dealing with surviving in the cold, and traveling to and from the spirit world, Asami's calmness was helpful nonetheless. She squeezed her hand and the two of them were silent for a while, just thinking and taking in each other's warmth. Despite the sensationalist lessons of the adventure romance novels the White Lotus did not know she had read as a teenager, Korra knew to keep her and Asami's clothes on as another layer of insulation, but she was still warmed by the simple fact of lying together with the woman she....loved? Maybe. Probably. Almost certainly. They were still trying to learn what it all meant, to each other and themselves, but whatever it was, Korra was glad that it was Asami that was with her.

Slowly, the two drifted off to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my first fic. Ever. Literally (Well, unless you count the times I said "I have a great idea!" and then stopped after writing down three sentences). However, after reading so many of the wonderful Korra/Asami stories on here over the past few days, and combined with just how amazingly the series ended, I decided that I was GOING to get this story out, no 'ifs', 'ands' or 'buts'. And here we are. I've already got several more chapters typed up, and thoughts for the story after that, so I should be updating pretty frequently until I've worked through the backlog. After that....well, we'll see how this comes out first.
> 
> As every fic writer has said in every story they have ever posted, I would love to hear what you think. Whether it's good or bad, praise or criticism, just knowing that you are reading and thinking about this story would make my day.


	2. This Ice Feels Like Ice

The first thing Korra noticed as she was waking up was not the cold surrounding her, but instead the solitary point of warmth in her left hand. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that she and Asami still had their fingers intertwined, holding one another from the night before. She smiled, a warm contented smile that had become a regular feature over the past week, as she stayed prostrate and just watched Asami sleep.

Even asleep in a strange place she was beautiful. Despite their rushed activities the night before she looked as if she had spent an hour before bed primping herself to present the proper image to anybody who might stumble across her in her sleep. Her hair was artfully pillowed beneath her head, the makeup she had applied yesterday morning was unsmudged (How was that even possible?), and even lying motionless she gave off an air of poise and grace. Not for the first time Korra reflected that she would be happy just watching Asami sleep as an example of refined beauty.

Then Asami snored. A loud, powerful snore that Korra could feel vibrate the air around them, and she could not help but laugh. Asami never wanted to stay in whatever box people tried to force her into, even while sleeping. When they had first met Korra had tried to dismiss her as nothing but a pretty face, and almost every moment since then had been spent disabusing her of that notion. She certainly did have that pretty face, but she was so much more than **just** a pretty face. Not just beautiful, but smart. Not just smart, but caring as well. She had no fear of personal danger, never shied away from a challenge, never rested on her professional or personal laurels. And on top of all that, sometimes she snored in just the right way to not match her perfect image, but to still be perfect anyway.

Closing her eyes again, Korra resolved to not wake up Asami just yet and to enjoy the next few moments.

Asami’s waking was an almost exact mirror of Korra’s, cognizant only of their hands still together. She could tell from her breathing that Korra was not still asleep, but her eyes were closed and she had not started moving yet. Asami was about to ask when Korra’s eyes opened and they looked at one another, neither needing to speak. Asami was lost in Korra’s warm blue, and she could tell that Korra was lost in her own green. Their hands were clasped together and, for at least a few moments longer, there was nothing to do to break the magic between them.  
  
\----  
  
“So, where **are** we?”

Asami’s voice did not have any of the strong concern that the both of them had tried so hard to suppress the night before, but was now naturally calm and honestly curious. After having warmed up the night before and dressed themselves in layers of almost every article of clothing they had, she and Korra could both stand outside and look around without being terrified of succumbing to hypothermia in moments. It was still cold, but they were used to cold. Unfortunately, that was all that they were used to in the current situation, since nothing in the vast landscape was even remotely familiar.

“I don’t know, this isn’t any part of the North Pole I’ve seen before. None of this looks familiar at all, and….something else is different.”

When she did not elaborate Asami turned to Korra, who seemed unusually unsteady on her feet, as if she was not sure where she could stand to keep from falling over.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but this ice feels like ice.” Off of Asami’s look she quickly elaborated, “I mean it feels like **only** ice. Like there’s no earth at all here, or anywhere around us. As if this snow, all this ice, is just floating on the ocean.”

It sounded ridiculous, but ‘ridiculous’ was a word Asami had stopped trying to use to dismiss things after her first few months of knowing the Avatar. So, if Korra said it felt like ice floating on water, they had to consider that.

“How are you feeling that? It seems perfectly steady to me.”

“I think it’s through my waterbending, and maybe earthbending as well. The movement of water is something I grew up with, even the way it moves against itself, and I spent a lot of time with ice-flows and shelfs. I can just… **feel** it, and I can also **not** feel it, and right now I’m only feeling water. No earth at all, no matter how deep I go. I’ve only ever felt like this when on a ship. There’s no earth beneath this ice.”

Asami made sure not to let the news change her expression, but that was almost more troubling than the disappearance of the Spirit Portal the night before. Earth was everywhere across the Earth (Obviously), even at the poles. The ice might have looked endless, but it rested on ground as solid as the Earth Kingdom itself; if you dug down deep enough you would find rock. She could not imagine where in the world they were.

“It’s the same way with the sun,” Korra continued, “it’s not moving the way it should. Did you notice that it never went down last night? Just lowered and lowered before it started coming back up."

“Is it possible we’re still in the Spirit World? I know it doesn’t look like anything you showed me, but you told me that it can change itself based on the people in and around it, and especially when the Avatar is nearby. Did we somehow never leave?”

Korra paused for a moment before she shook her head. “No, I would be able to feel the spiritual energy. We’re definitely in the physical world….just not any part of the world I know about or have even heard of.”

With another quick look around, perhaps hoping to spot some obvious clue that had escaped their notice, Asami turned back towards the shelter Korra had erected the day before. “Let’s go back inside then and see what we can figure out. No need for us to freeze our hair off just staring at snow.”

With her own look around, Korra turned to follow.

\----  
  
“What do we know?”

Korra asked the question openly, as if she expected Asami to have already figured everything out. Or no, not like she expected Asami to have already solved their problems, but rather that she had complete faith that Asami **would** solve the problem. With everything else that she had seen the business and engineering master accomplish, Korra could not imagine any problem which Asami could not figure out.

“Well, if you’re sure about the feel of the ice…” She paused until Korra nodded definitively, “then we’re nowhere I’ve ever heard of either. Especially not with the sun added onto that, not to mention the missing forest you told me about. I don’t think we’re anywhere near the North Pole at all, so I don’t think we can count on their soldiers finding us.”

She paused in case Korra had anything to add, but she just nodded in agreement with everything that had been said.

“Have you tried meditating into the Spirit World?”

“I tried, but it was….weird. It’s not that I couldn’t get in, but it felt like there wasn’t a Spirit World at all. Or, no, not like that, but…I don’t know how to explain it. There’s spiritual energy out there, but I can’t seem to **reach** it, it’s sand slipping through my fingers…which, considering I’m an earthbender, normally isn’t a problem for me.” Asami smiled slightly at Korra’s small joke before she continued, “I don’t think it’s something to do with me, I think it’s this place. It doesn’t have the same connection to the spirits.”

“Maybe that means something, we’ll think on that. Right now….now I think we’re going to need to save ourselves, because I don’t think we can count on anybody finding us.” Asami again paused to see if Korra had anything to add to that, and again Korra just nodded. “When it gets dark tonight, or at least as dark as it gets here, we can take our bearings from the stars and start heading south. Once we run into people we can figure out where we are, and at least it’ll start getting warm. When we find somebody with a radio we can call Tenzin and have him send an airship to us, and we’ll be home free. How much food do we have?”

“That’s the bright side at least” Korra said as she rumaged through their packs. “We should have enough to last us another week. It’s not exactly fine dining…” (“Hey, Future Industries ration bars are perfectly nutrituous!”) “…but it will keep us going. I’m glad we were able to scrounge up so much in the Spirit World and didn’t have to dig heavily into what we packed for the trip. Hopefully we can hunt or forage to spread that out even more if we have to. Hey, I can finally show you the merits of arctic hen. One bite and you’ll swear off catgator forever.”

Asami grinned at the thought of Korra cooking for her (She grinned at the thought of Korra doing anything for her), but she also knew that Korra was deliberately trying to be light, just as she was. They both knew that there was something very strange going on.

"Sounds delicious."


	3. Midnight Sun

They spent the rest of the day preparing for the trek they would begin the next morning. Even though they had so few supplies there was still a lot of work to make sure they used it as best they could. What clothing they had was all laid out and they began to strip and wrap it; wearing five shirts one over the other might keep your chest warm, but that would not do you much good if your arms were left with only a single sleeve. They had to tear and weave what cloth they had together to gain as much total covering as possible to both retain their body heat and keep out the wind and swept-snow. Their food was sorted as well; most was in the form of the low-weight, survival rations that Future Industries had been testing recently (Korra had predicted they would be able to survive on the wilds of the Spirit World and so they had packed a supply only for emergencies), but there were some treats and delicacies that both weighed more and would spoil sooner, so they were marked for soonest consumption (Not that either of them feared food spoiling in the current cold conditions).

As they worked through their tasks, though, they both stopped when they got to the formal outfits they had worn to Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding before they went to the Spirit World. They were both too sheer and cut to be of any practical use in this harsh weather as they were, and they had never even worn them once in the Spirit World, but now both the dresses were neatly folded and put aside instead of being rendered into pieces like the rest of their garments. Neither of them said a word about it, but their thoughts were clear regardless, and they moved on to mashing the rest of their clothing into functional, practical protection.

As the time passed they worked in companionable silence, focused on the tasks at hand, and comfortable enough to not need to chatter to fill the emptiness. They had already spent a week together in the Spirit World, by now they were both able to accept when nothing needed to be said.

Towards evening (Or what would have been evening in a world where the sun set) they donned their new patchwork clothing and ventured outside to watch the stars.

\----

"Okay, this might be a problem." Korra's voice was dry as she and Asami both stared up at a sky that, sadly, was still bright enough to blot out the stars. "I think I understand now what my dad meant when he talked about the Midnight Sun. I always thought he was just making up an old legend."

"I think the sun's going to block the stars out even if we wait past midnight," Asami said, "And we can't use the sun itself either; if it just keeps circling forever then there's no rise or set. I don't think we'll have any luck identifying where we are."

"What, then? Just pick a random direction and start walking?"

"Actually, I think so." Korra gave her a look at that, but Asami just shrugged her shoulders. "We both said that we don't know where we are, and we've got nothing to use to figure it out. With nobody near by and no way to contact anybody, our only chance is to make it out of here. For that...we need to start moving, and any direction is as likely to help as any other. Besides, it can't be worse than getting out of the Si Wong desert. There isn't even a land shark after us this time."

Korra could not help but smile at the memory, edging towards four years ago now. It had been one of the first times the two of them had been alone together, without Tenzin and the Airbender kids or Mako and Bolin. Just them (And the Earth crew of the downed airship) relying on their wits and skills to survive. Even now, Korra felt pride for how Asami had managed to think their way out of every problem that came at them then.

"You're probably right. Although if memory serves me right we did have a sand sailor at the time."

"Hey, I...well, we.... **built** that sand sailor. And if we have to we can do it again. But for now, we walk."

Korra paused for a moment, but there was no argument to make against anything Asami had said. Unless they wanted to just wait until they froze to death, walking in a random direction was the only option open to them.

"Okay....heh...remember when I was the one who couldn't sit still? Always saying we should do **anything** , just to do something?"

"Yeah, I do. I suppose you're rubbing off on me."

Smiling, they went back into the shelter to wait out the night and prepare for the next day's hike.

\----

The next morning they woke up, broke camp, and started their hike. Their packs were light, as they were wearing most of their clothes in the form of their new hand-made snowsuits, and their steps were easy. Based on a feeling that might have been instinct, but also might have just been blind stumbling, they picked their course and began trudging. Korra did not try any firebending, as anything large enough to warm them both would have been too strenuous to hold for longer than a few minutes at a time, and anything small enough to be held indefinitely would not have served much purpose out in the open air. She might have been able to warm just herself for an extended period, but the thought of abandoning Asami like that never even crossed her mind.

"Should we have tried making snow shoes? I saw some of the ones your Tribe used a few years ago, they worked really well, and we could probably have formed two pairs from our packs."

"I thought about it, but they're much more helpful on fresh powder and snow buildup. This tundra looks to be mainly ice, I'm guessing this snow fell years ago and has never melted. On ice snowshoes aren't much help, and can be a big problem if you hit any rough terrain. Better to keep our packs intact and deal with any powder as we encounter it."

As she had for the past two days, Asami deferred to Korra's lead. Korra had grown up at the South Pole, surrounded by ice and snow from the day she was born, where Asami had only briefly touched at the Poles for what amounted to brief vacations. When it came to their equipment and survival, there was no question that Korra was the expert.

As they walked, Korra would occasionally waterbend a smooth path across a broken section of ice, or steady a patch that seemed shaken. Asami was constantly checking their surroundings, hoping for some kind of familiar landmark or indication of what had happened to them, but nothing was clear. All they saw as they walked was the same endless miles of empty, white plane. Every few hours they stopped to rest and warm themselves; Korra would bring up a small snow shelter (Much easier and quicker than the larger one they had left that morning, since they would only stay within for an hour or so before moving on), they would set up their small camp stove, and they would huddle together for stolen warmth. They made good time, all things considered, and covered distance at a brisk walking pace despite the conditions. Still, when they ultimately decided to stop for the night there was a definite slump to their shoulders that had not been there in the morning: Even if they were going well, they were not going **to** anywhere.

The next day progressed the same way; they collected their packs in the morning, left the larger shelter Korra had erected the night before, and kept walking in the same direction they had gone the day before (With Korra's eye for the ice and Asami's head for directions, keeping the same target was easy). When they halted for the evening that night they set up camp as they had twice already (Korra had already reduced the time it took her to erect a solid, sturdy shelter to almost nothing. "Hey, I'm the Avatar, bending was always the easy part" she said when Asami pointed out how much quicker it was going), only when they brought out the camp stove Asami realized they were almost out of fuel. Enough to last for less than hour, barely enough time to warm the air in the shelter up to comfortable levels. Rather than run out completely and risk a later disaster, Korra heated the air herself. The two slept together that night, under the same coverings to preserve their warmth, and hoped for better developments the next day.

 


	4. Because You Make It Warm

The shelter was certainly survivably warm in the morning (Snow really does make a good insulator), but not anywhere near being actively comfortable. After they awoke Korra again raised the temperature to warm them up with a brief firebending, but they nonetheless ached from the cold sleep they had gone through. They ate, collected their belongings, and were off.

Korra noticed the first warnings of trouble after they had been walking for only an hour.

"There's a storm coming."

"Is there?" Asami looked to the sky, but there were no harbingers that she could see.

"Trust me, I can feel it in the air, and it'll be a bad wind. We've got a few hours, maybe a little bit less. We should probably make camp now so that we've got time to get a shelter set up and warmed by the time it hits us."

"If you think so."

As they now had done three times already, Korra erected a shelter and they crawled in to wait out the storm. As Korra had predicted it came in an hour, howling wind whipping up the snow and shards of ice and throwing it through the air faster than an airship. They could hear solid thumps all around them as their shelter absorbed the impacts, and the sound of the wind made them shiver even though none of it penetrated. Unlike when they had camped for the night on the previous days, neither of them was exhausted since they had been interrupted so early into their walk. Because of this, they had time to just sit there as they waited for the storm to pass.

The hours passed amiably enough, but this was different than their trip to the Spirit World. There they had been traveling from location to location, Korra marvelling Asami with the wonders to be found there. There was always a new fantasy, a new adventure. When they camped down for the night they had talked of the day's experiences. Their trip had been half a distraction from their lives of the past few months, and they had taken every advantage of it to be distracted. Even their stranding of the past few days had either kept them in motion, or kept them exhausted afterwards. Now, however, was silent isolation, and the other half of why they had gone to the Spirit World together.

Almost awkwardly, Korra sidled over next to where Asami was sitting against the wall of the dome. She knew that she felt for Asami, and she knew that Asami felt for her (Had known since they had first held hands before entering the Spirit Portal), but despite spending a solid week together they had not discussed it. Not directly. Now, though, with them trapped together without even the distraction of walking....how could they not? Slowly, she reached out to take hold of Asami's hand, as had happened so often frequently, and held it tightly.

"Asami..." her voice was quiet, not the confident, assertive tone she normally fielded. It was a quiet that came from hoping for something, even believing in something, but still doubting just enough to dread getting the answer. "...this past week....the time before that....our time apart...." She could not seem to get out a complete sentence. "...I've wanted..."

Asami did not respond with words. Instead, she squeezed Korra's hand and leaned down to place her head against Korra's shoulder, settling against her side. It might have been akwawrd as the taller woman squeezed down to fit, but it felt right. That implicit acceptance seemed to open the floodgates and suddenly Korra could not stop her stream of consciousness.

"Do you remember back when the new airbenders first started popping up after Harmonic Convergence? You were trying to teach me how to drive and I couldn't get the hang of it, not even at all, but you stayed in the car even after our fifth almost-crash and kept saying that I could get it. And then you showed up with a brand new airship when I was going to go with Tenzin to search the Earth Kingdom for the airbenders and this wasn't some huge disaster or catastrophe, where if you didn't help the world would end, it was just you making my life a little bit easier and more comfortable because that was the kind of person you are. And you came with us to Ba Sing Se and you were by my side through everything with the Red Lotus, which okay that **was** a big catastrophe where the world would end if we didn't do something, but then you **stayed** after it was over, when all I did was push everybody away and you were still there with me and you helped me even though...even though I thought that nobody would care about an Avatar that couldn't even take care of herself and....and..."

Korra felt like she should have been near tears, but in truth this was not a sad confession or depression. She was leading up to something good, and even in her almost-indecipherable ramble she felt that warmth growing.

"...that's when I began to realize just how special you were. Not just a friend, not even a best friend, but as somebody more. Somebody so special as to brighten my world just by being in it. Somebody who I could....could spend more time with.... And I went away, and I stayed away for so long and I'm so sorry for that, but even when I was away I never stopped thinking about how much better everything was just when you were around. Not when you were doing something for me, but just when you were **with** me, and I never thought that you'd still be there when I got back. You were always so together, and always moving your company higher, that I thought you'd have left me behind when I got back. But after everything, when you came up to me after the wedding, I couldn't just not say something, and when you said you wanted to go to the Spirit World it was the best moment of my life and now...now I just want to say you mean the world to me, and right now, even though we're trapped wherever we are and are buried under frozen snow, just feeling you next to me makes it a bright day. We're outside, under the warm sun and about to have a picnic, because you **make** it warm and I....and I...."

She finally wound down when there were no more words inside of her and she could barely remember what it was she had just said, and she was starting to worry that her outpouring had been too much even for Asami. Some of this they had already talked about, even just at the wedding before deciding to go to the Spirit World together, but she had never layed it all together, even if it had been so jumbled just now. As the seconds passed, which seemed to stretch to truly inconceivable lengths, she began to worry if maybe she had misjudged everything about Asami after all.

"Korra....I wanted to tell you for so long. Since even before we went to Ba Sing Se. I'd been confused with everything that happened, not just our ridiculous issues with Mako but Varrick and the entire situation, and it felt like you were the one person in the world that made sense. The one person that I didn't need to put on a show for, and that I didn't need to fight to be with, that I could just **be** with. I didn't know how you saw me, or if you even could see me, but that was when I knew. Since then....since then I've just been waiting for right now, for this very moment."

After that they were silent, Asami with her head leaning against Korra's shoulder, their hands clasped between them. Korra wanted to say something else, but there was nothing to say, and she felt like she had enough light inside her to burn away all the snow and ice around them. So, instead of saying anything, she reached over and tilted up Asami's chin until they were looking into each other's eyes. She felt lost in the pull of Asami's eyes, as if the warmth in them was where the light inside of her came from, and then she leaned in. Asami did the same, tilting her head to the side, and their lips met in the briefest, lightest touch that set the whole world aflame.

 


	5. Just A Little Further

Neither of them was exactly sure how long the storm had lasted; certainly hours, possibly days. Sealed away in their snow shelter they saw nothing of the passage of time, and they had spent so much time just holding one another that even if they could see the sky they might have missed a sunset or two (If the sun did set around here, that is). Now, however, the howling wind had finally died and the steady _thump_ of impact against the outside of the shelter had not been heard for a while.

Korra place her hand against the side of the shelter and felt for a moment before turning to Asami.

"I think we've been completely buried, I'll need to waterbend us out. Do we have everything collected?"

"I think so, give me a light to make sure."

Korra lit up a small ball of flame in her hand, just enough to see by in the buried shelter, as Asami made sure everything was tightly packed.

"This is everything, I think we're ready."

"Okay, give me your hand." Korra extended her non-flaming hand as she spoke and drew Asami to her. "Hold on."

Then, as soon as Korra dropped the fire, the snow dome above them exploded outward and the snow beneath them elevated as a pillar to deposit them right at the new level of the snow. All around them the landscape had been re-shaped by the storm; scoured flat by the wind-thrown shards of ice in some places and piled high with new-fallen and shifted snow in others.

For a moment they just stood and stared around them, at the evidence of how dangerous the world around them could be, and how out control the elements were, even though Korra could bend them to her will. The Avatar had tremendous power, and probably could have done something dramatic like fight the storm if it had been necessary, but against the sheer scale of weather and the world as a whole she was as small as anybody else.

"And to think, all I needed was a giant icestorm to get you all to myself. If I'd known I might have whipped one up even sooner."

The joke was horribly delivered, and not very funny in the first place, but Asami could not help but laugh regardless. Korra was blatantly attempting to make light of the situation, and that made it all the better. Turning to Korra she grabbed her around the arms and pulled her close, laughing into her shoulder and holding tight. After a moment, Korra began laughing as well.

"Okay, do we have any idea which direction we were going in before the storm hit? So much of the land has changed."

"I think....no, I'm almost positive we were heading in this direction." Asami pointed dramatically towards a section of ice that looked no different to Korra than any other section of ice, but it would take something a lot more important than that to get her to disagree with Asami now.

"Well then, that way we go!"

And she began marching directly ahead, taking such large steps that she was almost daring Asami to challenge her faith in Asami's navigation, pulling Asami along with her. Laughing, Asami allowed herself to be pulled. Right now, she would have gone anywhere Korra pulled her at all.

\----

"Korra, hold on for a moment. I need to....I need to rest." Asami's breathing was coming in shallow breaths, shallower all the time. They had been on the ice for days now, and it was beginning to wear her down. To wear both of them down, even with Korra's bending to help stave off the worst. Every morning they woke up to a shelter that was a little colder, and Korra had to work a little harder to heat it up. Their clothing was frosted through every day, and even heating it overnight gave them only a small respite in the morning.

"Just a little further Asami, to the top of this hill. We'll have a view of the entire area and we'll be able to see whatever's around here." Korra did not honestly believe that there would be anything worth seeing, their entire trip had exposed them to nothing but endless tundra beyond more endless tundra, but she needed to give Asami some reason to keep moving. Harking back to the lessons of your youth: If you stop on the ice, you die on the ice. "Just a little bit further, then we'll make camp."

Asami could only grunt in acknowledgement, but she kept walking. The hill was not very large, really just a dune of snow slightly larger than every other dune surrounding them, but even that exertion was almost too much in her state. Still, she did not give up and followed Korra up to the top of the rise before collapsing to her knees.

"We need to camp here, Korra. I can't...I can't keep going today. We need to rest, keep going tomorrow."

Korra was about to protest, but the sound of Asami's voice stopped her. This was not emotional refusal, this was a physical collapse, right now Asami **could not** keep going.

"It's okay, we made it to the top, we can camp here. Give me a minute and I'll bring up a shelter."

But before she bended their normal shelter out of the snow, she drew up a pool of water and began to run it over Asami's body. So far they had been physically unscathed and had not needed any healing, but clearly that had changed. Frowning, Korra, quickly realized the problem, and it was not something she could heal with waterbending: There was only so much exertion and exposure to the cold the human body could take. They had done amazingly well so far, but they had reached a limit.

"Hold on Asami, I'm going to warm you up right now."

Erecting their shelter and heating the air would have taken too long, so Korra went the direct route. Pulling Asami into a tight embrace, she began to firebend a warm cocoon around the two of them; warm enough to stave off the cold air on the outside and heat them up on the inside. To hold this continuously would come close to wiping out Korra for the rest of the day and she would need her own rest, but hopefully it would revive Asami enough to make it through the night.

"Just hold on Asami, just _hold on_. We've come so far, we're about to get out of here, you can't stop _now_. Stay with me....please."

They stayed like that for minutes, then close to half an hour, then an hour. Korra had never held a firebending like this for so long, but she could feel it working as Asami warmed up within her arms. She held it for another minute, and another after that, and then Korra began to fade herself as she spent all her fire.

"Please."

Whether it had just been enough time for Asami to warm up, or whether there was its own kind of power in that single word, Asami's eyes opened and she looked up at Korra. Then she smiled and asked a question which was so innocuous, but which meant so much at that moment; "Korra, do you hear that?"

And then the two of them were on their feet, regardless of how tired they were or how cold they were to their bones, as they noticed for the first time a sign of life. A single, solitary flying machine (And it was clearly a machine) far above them. And then they were shouting and waving and doing everything they could to be noticed in the hopes that they might finally be escaping the frozen desert.

"Hey! Over Here! Helloooooo!"

Both Korra and Asami were shouting as loud as they could and waving their arms. They were cold and exhausted, but you would never know it to look at just how enthused they were, jumping around and attracting attention as if their lives depended on it. Which, sad to say, they did. The two of them had seen no sign of life for days until they caught sight of the unusual flying machine and had no idea if they would see any again if it got out of sight. So, they were doing all they could to get noticed.

Unfortunately, it did not look to be enough, as the strange machine kept going in a straight line. Ironically, it even seemed to be heading towards where they had started their hike so many days ago. Slowly their arms dropped to their sides as they realized their one hope was about to keep flying by without even realizing that they were there. It was already almost out of sight, just a speck in the sky. Desperate, and on the verge of exhaustive collapse, Korra took what little heat she had left and coalesced it into into a single ball of flame. Just before the speck disappeared completely she flung her arms upwards, creating the largest, brightest, **flashiest** cone of firebending she could before collapsing to her knees besides Asami.

It worked.

Instead of shrinking, the speck was growing, turning from a tiny blot in the vast blue expanse back into the strange flying machine they had first noticed. As it grew they began to pick out details that made it all the stranger; it did not have the large body of an airship, nor the wings of one of the new airplanes that Future Industries had been producing for the past few years. It did seem vaguely similar to the hummingbird mecha suit Asami had designed with Varrick's help, but only in the most general of ways. It looked like there was a single large propellar above to keep it in the air, with what might have been another one connected to the main body by a tail. But right now, with it apparently coming to save their lives, Korra and Asami would not have cared if it stayed in the air with two giant arms that flapped very hard.

As it grew closer they reached towards one another and grapsed hands, fingers intertwined. They were too tired to say anything, they just leaned into each other and smiled. The noise of the machine, a loud _whump-whump-whump_ , began to cut the air, and Asami's eyes picked out more details. Chief amongst them was a large symbol blazoned on its side, which she had never seen before. It was not the flag of any of the five nations, nor one the bending elements, or any other organization or group she had ever heard of. It was, instead, a bright red-and-white rectangle, with a stylized leaf predominant in the center white stripe.

 


	6. Fundamentally a Room

As the strange vehicle landed on the ground (Even near complete exhaustion Asami kept analysing the machine. It was clearly a heavier-than-air craft with the way it settled on the ice, and her mind itched to get a look at the specifications of how it worked) the door on its side opened and a group of men piled out. They were swathed from head to toe in what looked like proper cold-weather gear, and Korra and Asami were both instantly jealous. However, like the machine itself their clothing was like nothing either of them had seen before; it didn’t look like furs or pelts, and their equipment was oddly designed. Still, they had warm clothing and a machine to bring them to safety, so Korra and Asami would have accepted creatures with two heads at the moment.

As the strangers approached, Korra called out to them over the rushing wind. “Thank you so much for stopping, we’ve been stranded out here for days with almost no supplies. You’ve saved our lives.”

The men stopped for a brief moment and spoke among themselves, then kept walking without responding to Korra.

“We’re not even sure where we are exactly, we were heading to the Northern Water Tribe and somehow ended up here. What is this place?”

The men were now close enough for her to speak without shouting, and they responded to Korra for the first time. Unfortunately, the words made no sense, the meaning lost in gibberish. Even the sounds seemed wrong, not even the incomprehensible noises of children too young to speak. Korra frowned, unsure.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you. Please, can we speak inside your aircraft? My friend and I are very weak.”

Again the strangers spoke. It sounded different this time, but no less strange, and Korra began to grow angry at the apparent games.

“Look, we don’t have time to play around, Asami needs help right now. Now either you _help_ me, or you get out of my way.” As she spoke she stepped forward and raised her arms to begin some demonstrative bending…or at least she _meant_ to step forward dramatically, instead her legs could no longer support her in her exhaustion and she stumbled to her knees, gasping for air.

That, at least, got through whatever was causing the strangers not to understand her, and they rushed forward to pick up her and Asami and carry them back to the flying vehicle. They were gingerly placed inside on padded seats and the men clambered in afterwards, and soon the strange creation was airborne again. Its motion was odd, unlike any flight Korra or Asami had ever experienced before, and everything inside looked just as unusual as the strange equipment, but for the first time in a week Asami and Korra were warm without the need of firebending to exhaustion or submerging in a dome of snow. Just being outside of blistering wind was enough to restore some measure of strength to them, and they smiled at each other as they reached over and clasped hands once again

Soon, even with the jumping motion of their flight and the unfamiliar noises surrounding them, the two drifted to sleep still holding hands.

\----

When Korra awoke it was into warmth, real _warmth_ , but for some reason she felt oddly cold regardless. After a moment she realized: This was the first morning in a week that she had not woken with the feel of Asami against her. She sat bolt upright, filled with half-formed thoughts of horror over what might have befallen her, and subsided at once when she saw her sitting awake in the bed next to Korra’s.

That was when Korra realized she was in a bed, and further that the bed was inside a building, and they really were not stuck on the ice any more. With a small whoop of joy she jumped across the gap between them and pulled Asami into a tight embrace, savoring the feeling of holding her tight without five layers of clothing between them.

“Whoa, easy there Korra. I’m glad you’re okay, too.”

“I was so worried, Asami. I could feel you slipping away out there, if these people hadn’t found us…” Korra’s voice was tight, filled with all the emotions she could not quite say.

“Don’t worry, I’m already feeling better, and I’d say your strength is coming back, too. How about a litle breathing room?” Korra laughed at Asami’s breathless voice and loosened her hold---but only a little. “Do you know where we are?” She asked.

“Not yet. I only woke up a few minutes ago and I didn’t want to try forcing my way around until you were with me. But, now that you’re up, what say we take a look around?”

The room that they were in was both familiar and as bizarrely strange as the people they had encountered on the ice. It was clearly a dormitory or barracks of some kind, meant for a dozen people to sleep in without much focus on comfort or privacy, but it was different from any room they had been in before in a thousand subtle ways. There was so much metal around them; metal bed frames, metal shelves and cabinets, and metal fixtures, more metal than they had seen anywhere outside of Zaofu. However, in Zaofu every scrap of metal, down to the screws and bolts that held the buildings together, was its own work of art, bent into its functional form while retaining its beauty by metalbenders that were not construction workers so much as artisans. Here the metal almost looked cheap, the barest minimum necessary to fulfill its function. The fixtures were also different; the lightbulbs were brighter and steadier, the cabinets were jointed differently, and there was no heritage of any of the four nations visible in the architecture. It was still fundamentally a room, but just as much as the sun which never set it was a striking deviation from the world they knew.

Quietly, Asami said “Why don’t we ask her?”

The “her” was a soldier who stood just inside the door and had been calmly observing them the entire time. That she was a soldier was unmistakable; her uniform might have been different than any with which they were familiar, but a uniform it clearly was, and she held herself as rigidly as any member of the United Forces. She stood perfectly still, arms at rest behind her, and had not said anything as Asami and Kora explored their surroundings.

“Hi, my name’s Asami, and we both wanted to say how grateful we are that you rescued us from out there. We’re not exactly sure what happened, can you tell us where we are?”

The woman gave no indication that she had understood a thing Asami had said, staring at her with blank incomprehension. Slowly, she spoke herself, and her words just as meaningless as what the strange men had said out on the ice. After a moment, she turned aside and pulled what was clearly a telephone of some kind off the wall and spoke rapidly into it, just as indecipherable as before.

“Korra, I don’t..I don’t think they speak our language.”

“At all? That’s not possible. We’ve been all over the world and never had any problem understanding people before.”

“We’ve also never been to a land where the sun never sets, I think we need to be open to stranger things.”

Korra opened her mouth to argue the point, but there was not really any argument to make given everything that surrounded them. Wherever they were, it was not like any other city or nation they had ever been to. Now that she was thinking about it, even the unnamed woman looked different. Her skin was as light as Asami’s, a characteristic of the Fire Nation and its people, but her face and eyes were rounded like depictions of the Air Nomads. Her uniform had as many strange devices as they had seen in the flying machine, and on her shoulder was the same red-and-white symbol with the leaf that had blazoned its side. Whoever she was, like the mysterious environment and strange building she was another reminder that they were outside the familiar.

By now the woman had finished her phone conversation and resumed her stance next to the door, again watching them without comment. Slowly, Korra raised her hand and pointed at her own chest. “Korra.” She said it loudly and clearly, then waited a moment and said it again. After the third repition she pointed to Asami and said her name just the same. She went back and forth, slowly and with emphasis, to try and make it clear that she was giving their names. Finally, when she could not imagine that the woman was so clueless as to miss the point, she pointed towards her chest and waited. Korra did not try to ask her name, since that might have just confused her, but just left her hand extended and kept what she hoped was a friendly, questioning smile on her face.

Slowly, the woman nodded and pointed towards her own chest, then said a string of syllables that made no sense to Korra. When she saw that Korra had not grasped it, she said it again, slower and enunciating each syllable. To Korra it sounded like a mishmash of Fire and Earth names, but she finally parsed it out to Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon and nearly yelled for joy that they were making some progress.

Before they could go any further there was a _click-clack_ of a lock being turned and the door behind them swung open. Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon (Could that possibly be her actual name?) quickly snapped to what could only be attention as a three others in uniforms similar to hers walked through the door and appraised Korra and Asami. Their gazes were not hostile, not quite, but they were far more calculating than either of them liked. Then, as if they though in tandem, the three stepped aside to clear the doorway and gestured through it. Clearly, they were being lead somewhere, and after a brief glance between them they walked out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of what I had already written before I began posting, from here on out it's updating-as-I-type.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy it enough to check back in as it goes.


	7. People in the Picture

As they followed the three soldiers down the hallway, Asami continued to pick out all the tiny things that were just subtly different enough to be wrong.  There was a constant, high-pitched hum that she assumed had to be connected to the electricity in use in the structure, but it sounded different than what she was used to.  Closer to the noise of the Spirit Vine technology Kuvira had used, but thankfully not identical or roaring loud enough to make her think that they were actually the same.  The structure itself seemed to almost be in disrepair; everything functioned, but there was a lot of wear and tear around them, and more dirt and smudges than she would expect from soldiers as firm as these appeared to be.  She had a hard time imagining General Iroh of the United Forces letting things get so slovenly, and even though they had not yet learned to communicate with each other these people gave off the same air of professionalism.  When they reached their apparent destination, an office down the hallway from where she and Korra had awoken, Asami was certain that the environment did not fit.  The office was...not "sloppy", not exactly, but it had a disorganized and cluttered feel that she could not imagine the man behind the desk could possibly condone.  He looked uncomfortable just sitting in it, as if he wanted to sweep everything out the door and begin having it all filed and ordered.  Like he and the other people they had seen were only visitors here, not the regular inhabitants.

 

At that thought she almost stopped short. What if they  _were_ visitors, just like her and Korra?  Transported without their knowing how or why?  What if they were stuck here as well?  Did that mean that she and Korra were not really "saved", but just had a reprieve from immediate death?  Asami knew they had to learn how to speak to these people as soon as possible.

 

At a gesture from the sitting officer, who apparently held command here, Korra and Asami sat before his desk while the three men who collected them took their own seats and Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon stood beside the door, just as she had in the dormitory where Korra and Asami had woken.  Asami looked to Korra, who gave her the barest of nods, and she leaned forward with her best and most disarming smile.  She had never played the fool, not even when it would have served her advantage to be mistaken as an empty-headed girl, but she had long since learned how to play on the expectations of others who had already mentally dismissed her or categorized her as just the pretty figurehead of Future Industries, especially when they wanted something as these did.  Of  **that** she was certain, the people around her did not look hostile, but they had the same look about them that she got from President Raiko almost every time they met.  A calculating look that said its bearer was thinking of how best to use you to achieve their own ends; even if those ends were relatively benign (And Raiko, for all his faults, had never planned any kind of martial expansion or oppression in the United Republic) they were still  _their_ ends.

 

"Sir, thank you so much for saving the two of us, I don't know what we would have done without you.  As we've been trying to say, we don't know where we are or how we got here, and were wandering out there for days.  What is this place?  Can you help us communicate with Republic City?  Can you....can you understand me?"

 

She was hopeful for a moment that maybe this man would be able to speak their language, but it lasted only seconds before he responded in the same meaningless sounds that they had already run up against.  He spoke at length, but his words became no clearer with time.  When he finished, and when he realized that they had understood him no more than he had understood them, he looked over their shoulders and spoke to Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon.  She responded, and Asami picked out her own and Korra's name in the general haze, before the man turned back. After a moment, he said something to one of the other men in the room who up until now had been silent, and then the new man began speaking.  His words sounded different from the rest, but no less strange; like the difference between the roars of a platypus-bear and a polar bear-dog, just being able to say "They're different" did not impart any greater meaning.  After a moment, when Asami and Korra had both shaken their heads to say they still did not understand, a third man present began to speak.  He spoke much more slowly that other two, haltingly, as if even he was not completely familiar with the language, and this language...this language was different from the other two that had been tried.  Korra and Asami still could not understand the meaning, but at least it sounded liked  _words_  instead of the noise from the other speakers.  They were excited now, wondering if they were getting closer, and gestured for him to keep talking.  He spoke again, still unsure himself, but unfortunately his words became no clearer.  After he went on for a few minutes Korra and Asami leaned back in disappointment.

 

Everybody in the room was silent for moments as if considering how to proceed, until the man behind the desk stood up, gesturing for everybody else to remain seated.  He walked over to what Asami had taken to be an empty picture frame when they first walked in, since it looked like just black framed glass, and pressed a button on its side.  After a moment the glass began glowing with light and Asami was fascinated as a picture appeared within, apparently a picture of several other soldiers like the group they were with.  She had never seen such a bright and vibrant photograph, even Future Industries' new color film did not come close, and she was about to walk over to examine it when she saw the photograph  _move._ The soldiers in the picture shifted and breathed like real people, and then one of them began speaking and Asami nearly jumped out of her chair. It was like a mover screen, but there was no projector or equipment, and mover images were even more indistinct than photographs, so how could it be so clear?  Then, to her even greater shock, the man with them spoke to the screen.... _and the screen spoke back_.

 

At that both Asami and Korra  **did** jump out of their chairs, staring at the little picture in complete amazement as the people in the picture spoke back and forth with the people in their room with them.  She briefly had a flash of memory, years old, of hearing about a Spirit who thought that radios worked with little men inside them that spoke.  At the time she had wondered how even a Spirit could believe something so ridiculous, but now she wondered if maybe he had been onto something after all.  She looked to Korra, who seemed just as surprised as she was, and Korra gave the smallest shake of her head.  No?  No what? Before she could ask, she realized that everybody in the room (And even the people in the picture) were staring at her and Korra.  They looked surprised, but not at the talking picture; they looked surprised that Korra and Asami were surprised.  As if they expected them to already understand what it was.

 

Just what land did these people come from that had these strange devices?

 

Slowly, Asami and Korra re-seated themselves as the conversation with the picture resumed and went on for a few minutes.  Eventually, the man waved their attention back to the picture as one of the people in it began to talk.  This was another new sound (The fourth one they had heard by now?  Asami was not exactly sure) and like the one before it seemed like it was  **almost** understandable.  When that did not work, the same person tried another new language, and then another one after that.  Each one was just as incomprehensible as the last.  Eventually that person seemed to run out of languages (Just how many ways did these people speak to each other?) and another one took over.  This time the words were back to being completely unknowable, like they were not even using the right sounds.  They went through another dozen languages, switching off to different speakers each time one seemed to run out of words, and none of them made any sense to Korra or Asami.  Eventually, the people in the picture looked frustrated and a little insulted, as if Korra and Asami were doing this on purpose, but also defeated that they had accomplished nothing besides making noises at one another for an hour.  The one who sat in front, and had been the first person to try speaking, now gestured at them, indicating that they should begin talking.

 

This time Korra leaned forward, almost aggressively so, and Asami could tell that she was holding on to her calm with both hands.

 

"Hello, my name is Korra and this is Asami.  We don't know where we are or who you are or what you're trying to say, and you throwing noises at us for an hour isn't helping anything!" The people in the picture looked as confused and non-comprehending as they had before, but Korra was in no mood to calmly continue with this nonsense.  "We're very grateful that you rescued us, but if you keep this up much longer we're going to march right out of here and take our chances back out on the ice!  Now, do you have ANY idea what I'm saying?"

 

She paused, hoping that maybe one of them would raise a hand or stand up to announce that miraculously it all made sense, but the people in the picture (And the soldiers with them) were just as confused as before.  One of them gestured with his hands that he wanted her to keep talking, but Korra clenched her hands into fists and barely restrained herself from firebending the picture into ashes.  "Aaargh!  This is pointless!"  And she sat back down in her chair with the impression of somebody slamming a door.

 

After a few moments of awkward silence, all the people in the room and the picture began speaking to one another rapidly.  Some were excited, some were agitated, and none of it made any sense to Korra and Asami.  Korra was about to jump up again, possibly to do something more dramatic than before, when the man behind the desk who had been in charge seemed to remember that she and Asami were still there.  With a few quick words to Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon, they were ushered out of the office and found themselves being shepherded down another hallway.  They turned to one another, but before they could speak they both noticed the most wonderful, soul-lifting smell they had smelled in what felt like forever, and began practically running down the hallway towards where they could tell food was being prepared.


	8. Even the food tasted different

Even the food tasted different, but with how hungry she was Korra did not stop to analyze or pick apart the details.  She and Asami had only eaten in the morning yesterday before being found by these strange people, and that had only been the same now-frozen ration bars they had been living on for a week, so the temptation of a fresh, cooked meal was almost enough to drive her to passion.  Lu-Ten Joo Dee Moon (Korra again wondered just how somebody could wind up with a name like that, and resolved to just call her Lu-Ten for simplicity) had guided them towards this cafeteria after their meeting with the others, and now she and Asami were thoroughly engrossed in the plates before them.  There had been trays of unfamiliar food laid out along one side of the area, and they had piled whatever they could into the trays they were given, and now they did not even pause to talk as they ate like two people that had been near starvation.  Which, come to think of it, they had been.

 

After a few minutes, when they had managed to sate the growling beasts that seemed to have grown in their stomachs, they began to again take in their surroundings.  The cafeteria itself was like all the other rooms they had been in so far, worn metal and wood everywhere, but for the first time they saw other people besides the soldiers they had been in conference with.  A dozen people were scattered around the room in small groups, all talking in that same language which seemed dominant, and they were all the same sort of unusual as the soldiers they already met.  Their clothing was varied and had the appearance of casual dress, and Korra made the leap that they were the primary people of this....whatever this place was.  The soldiers must be new.  For a moment she thought that they might have stumbled into a military occupation, but none of the body language was fearful like a conquered people; the soldiers might not be the normal inhabitants of this place, but they were not a dominating enemy.  The food also was not the kind of gruel served to prisoners; it certainly would not be what Korra would have chosen to serve on a feast day, but it was warm and fresh and provided in quantity.  So, wherever they were and whatever was going on, they had not fallen into the hands of barbarians at least.  However, Lu-Ten still stood behind them observing, and she was clearly there as a guard in addition to guide, so they were not completely at liberty, either.

 

Turning back to Asami, Korra could not help but notice that even as she had attacked her meal with as much gusto as Korra had, Asami still held her utensil (An odd, metal strip with pointed tines at the end) as if she were dining at an exclusive restaurant.  Even now, she retained that air refinement which never seemed to abandon her.

 

"What?" she asked, "Do I have something on my face?"

 

"No," Korra laughed and tried to imagine any meal where Asami could be so sloppy as to get something on her face, "I was just thinking about us and this entire ridiculous situation.  We leave the Spirit World, get stuck wherever we are, nearly die out in that wasteland and now that we've been saved we  _still_ don't know what's going on.  Yet if I didn't know better I'd say you were ready to go out and spend the evening in Republic City 'living it up'."

 

Asami smiled at the compliment, and at how Korra never seemed to see any of the flaws that she saw herself.  After a week without washing or bathing, and with them both now dressed in the strange clothing that they had woken in (She assumed that their property had been taken by whoever these people were), she figured that she looked ready to rejoin Gommu in this commune beneath the streets.  But to hear Korra, you would think she had just woken up in her mansion and spent the day at the spa.  "I'll only 'live it up' if you come with me, I couldn't stand going to those clubs".

 

Korra laughed and reached across the table to take Asami's hand, "Deal."

 

They stayed that way for a moment, almost more refreshed by this limited contact than the meal they were eating, when they both remembered that Lu-Ten was still staring at them.  She had not said anything, but the realization that they were being watched made them both withdraw their arms and turn back to their food.

 

"So, have we solved the mystery yet?  Do we know how to get home?"  Korra's voice was light again, not the near-anger she had had towards the end of their meeting, where the frustrations of the day had begun to grind.

 

"I'm...I don't think so.  I don't know if we  **can**.  Everything about this place is so strange and I've never heard of any of it. If that talking picture had been built anywhere in the world we would have heard of it, and I get the feeling that we seem just as strange to these people as they look to us.  Did you notice how surprised they were that we  _hadn't_  seen that picture before?  I don't think they've ever had any contact with the world we know.  Unless we can find out what sent us here in the first place, I don't see how we can get back."

 

"Oh." With that one word Korra said so much, and she spent a moment just absorbing, before she smiled again  "Well then, we better get to understanding how this world works.  I finally started figuring out the old one in about twenty years, I'm sure we could shave a few months off it this time."

 

Now Asami laughed, half at the joke itself, and half in relief that Korra took it so well.  She was right, it had taken her a long time to learn how to handle the world, and she had suffered some hardships doing so that their scars could still be seen, and Asami had feared that she might have taken it even harder to be cast away from what she knew.  Thankfully, that did not seem to come to pass.

 

"You're right, we can probably knock a whole lot of time off of it.  Maybe even get the language down in only ten years  Of course, since they have so many we might need to stretch that out a bit."

 

Now they laughed together, letting a lot of their tension flow out as they accepted the situation they seemed to find themselves in, and the rest of the meal was spent in simple, idle chat as they talked about how everything looked in this new world they found themselves in.


	9. Dropped Out of the Sky

Lieutenant Judith Moon, RCAF, knocked on the frosted glass door to what had once been the office for the administrator of the Weather Station at the Canadian Forces Station Alert.  The administrator, unfortunately, had been displaced, as had most of his staff, by the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel George Monke, the expanded RCAF deployment (With support), and Lieutenant Moon herself.  She knew many officers that would have taken the office purely as a petty exercise of power, emphasizing that they were in charge by literally displacing the former head, but she also knew that Monke would have legitimately preferred there to be another choice.  Like much of the Weather Station, which had been running in civilian hands for decades despite the RCAF presence in Station Alert, it had the disorganized, chaotic clutter that came from eccentric civilians trapped indoors for too much time, and every time she was in the office Moon could tell that Monke only kept himself from tearing down the walls by the skin of his teeth.  Still, it had the best information connections and location than any other office in the base, so he had no choice but to operate out of it.

 

From within the room came the muffled instruction to enter and Moon walked in, shutting the door quietly behind her.

 

"Please, have a seat, Lieutenant."  Lieutenant-Colonel Monke was putting away a folder as he spoke, and she noticed a pile of others at his left hand that he would likely return to once she had left.  Even at the very ends of the Earth, paperwork could never be defeated.  "I wanted to get your impressions on the two women we've picked up."

 

"Yes, sir.  What would you like to know?"

 

"I'm not looking for anything specific just yet, just give me your feel.  We haven't been able to decipher anything they've been saying and you've had the longest contact, so I'd like to get your perspective."

 

"Yes, sir."  She paused for a moment to martial her thoughts, then continued. "Sir, they are two of the queerest women I've ever seen.  Remember how they panicked at the video hookup this afternoon?  They've been doing that all day.  When they woke up they spent ten minutes staring at the **beds** , as if they'd never seen the like. They walked around the dorm opening and closing the closet doors and knocking on the shelves.  They stare at everything we pass, even people; when they first started speaking to me it looked like they expected me to grow another head. I've seen that before, from refugees out of Africa and the Mideast, but these two don't look or act like refugees, even if we hadn't found them up here.  The tall one looks like she works as a model, and I'd take the other one for an MMA fighter."  She paused again, as if considering whether or not to mention something, then continued.  "They also seem to think my name is 'lieutenant', or rather 'looten'.  I'd guess they don't have much experience with ranks."

 

Monke paused a moment to think over what she had said.  "And their language?  Do you think that's deliberate?"

 

"No, sir, that's something I'm almost sure of, they've never heard English before in their lives, or anything else we've tried.  They and I have gone in circles all day and they've never kicked to _anything_.  They can't read it, either; they would have burned themselves a dozen times on hotplates in the cafeteria when they ignored the warning signs if I hadn't stopped them.  There was no hesitation that I could see.  I....uh...I knew a kid about ten years ago with Aphasia after an accident.  It was a lot like this, no connection at all."

 

"Any clue what it is they are speaking, or where they're from?  Any hint at all?"

 

"No, sir.  The shorter one, Korra....." The pause was definitely longer here, as if she was worried not just over whether she should mention something, but how.  "...I grew up with an Inuk friend who had a white grandmother, they look almost identical.  But these two aren't speaking Inuktitut.  I could never speak it myself, but I was around them enough to be able to recognize it.  If I'd had to guess I would have said they were speaking something from somewhere in East Asia, but the video conference with the CFLS ran through that and more."

 

The silence stretched out longer this time, and now it was clear that it was Colonel Monke that was the one unsure if he should say something or not.  "Lieutenant, off the record and completely without review, do you think they had anything to do with the pulse?  Don't snap-answer, I want you to think on this."

 

"Sir, I don't see how they could be.  They're _kids_ , they can't be older than twenty, and they nearly had a fit when they saw a video chat.  My niece uses one of those in her cell-phone to talk to her boyfriend when my brother won't let them meet, and she's fifteen.  They also obviously have no idea at all what's going on.  They're so far out of their element that I feel sorry for them.  On the other hand....on the other hand, I honestly don't see how they can be out here and _not_ be connected.  We're literally at the end of the Earth, the odds of a coincidental encounter have to be astronomical.  How did they even _get_ here if they're not connected?  I haven't been privy to the specific details, but I know that when they were found they had no cold weather gear at all.  Unless they literally dropped out of the sky, there has to be something else to them."

 

"Hmmmm...." Monke limited himself to that one noncommittal sound.  "Where are the two of them now?"

 

"When Lieutenant Rawlins relieved me we had just returned to the dormitory for the evening.  Captain Sawyer told me he didn't want them wandering the station today, so I ushered them back after they cleaned up." Now she gave a small smile, "I don't think I've seen two people so happy to be offered a shower since my deployment, they must have been out there for days."

 

"Hmmmmm......thank you Lieutenant.  When are you scheduled to relieve Rawlins?"

 

"I'm scheduled to return at 0800 tomorrow morning.  Captain Sawyer said he would have a full schedule worked out tomorrow for until the situation changes."

 

"Thank you.  Dismissed."

 

As Lieutenant Moon left the office (She could already see Monke reaching for another file before the door had closed) and headed towards her own dormitory (Her own _very crowded_ dormitory since an entire section had been cleared to make room for the two mystery women), she found herself running through many of the same questions all over again.  Just who were these two, where had they come from, and what were they doing at the North Pole?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear that it was only when I was halfway into this chapter that I realized I had named Lieutenant-Colonel George Monke after Colonel Monke, a character from the original series. It wasn't until I actually wrote out the name exactly like that, "Colonel Monke" without the full title or first name, that I made the connection.
> 
> Hmmm.....subconscious symbolism, or something deeper?


	10. Chapter 10

When Lieutenant Moon arrived to relieve the guard the next morning, Korra and Asami were already awake.  That was not much of a surprise, as neither of them gave the impression of being the sort to waste a day in in fruitless sleep (At least, not when they were not recovering from exposure and exhaustion).  What was surprising was that Korra sat cross-legged on her bed, apparently performing some sort of meditation, and given the frustrations she had shown yesterday Moon had not pegged her for meditative type.  Asami sat on the bed next to her, quietly observing, and Moon noted that it was  _not_ the bed which she had slept in; she had moved to the cot on the other side of Korra, where she could see both her and also watch the door (And guards).  She leaned forward just a little bit, enough for Moon to recognize that her posture was protective and almost possessive.

 

Interesting.

 

After she had gotten the quiet update on what had happened during the night (Primarily nothing; indecipherable conversation between the two women, sleep, and then meditation starting about half an hour ago) she quietly assumed her standard position beside the door.  There was no need to disturb Korra's meditation since they still could not communicate, and as of yet she had received no instructions to bring the pair anywhere.  As she waited, she observed her two charges and added to her thoughts from the day before.

 

As she had told Colonel Monke, the two certainly did not have the look of refugees, no matter where they started their journey.  It was not just that they were so clearly well-nourished and provided for (Not counting the obvious degradation of their time on the ice), but it was their mannerisms as well.  They might have been confused by everything around them, but they were not fearful.  Their eyes did not have the jittery, rapid movement that came from trying to look everywhere at once.  They stood straight and addressed directly, not trying to be unseen or to hold in the corner of the eye.  They were confident as well, with no nervousness born from being surrounded by soldiers....no nervousness.....something clicked in Moon's mind.

 

When civilians are surrounded by soldiers, people trained and experienced in combat, they get jumpy.  Even when they have nothing to fear, even when they are their _own_ troops, being outnumbered by guns is disconcerting for almost everybody.  It happens so often as to be expected; tourists being shown around a base, politicians being escorted, maintenance crews, they all need quite a bit of time to acclimatize to the military before they can easily accept the situation.  For some it's that the soldiers remind them that danger exists, for others it is that they fear the soldiers will _become_ dangerous, but whatever the reason it is almost ubiquitous.  But not these two.  They had had no problem at all.

 

It might have been that they had simply spent a lot of time around soldiers, maybe they were both military brats that grew up on a base somewhere, but Moon dismissed that almost instantly.  The way they carried themselves, they way they appraised everything around them, especially Moon herself and the other guards, said that these two had had combat training and plenty of it.  Possibly even live-fire experience.  They might be young (And Moon stuck with the 'around twenty' estimate she had arrived at the day before), but Moon was now convinced that their presence here could not be a coincidence.  Two civilians randomly found wandering near the North Pole was preposterous enough, but if she put effort into it she could some up with some theoretically-plausible explanations; maybe they had been on one of those "Adventure Tours" that take the rich and powerful to exotic locales and they had somehow become separated from the tour or their plane had crashed (Asami could certainly pass for an heiress).  However, two  _soldiers_  found wandering near the North Pole, barely one hundred miles from the bizarre electro-magnetic pulse that had drawn scientists and support to Station Alert like a lodestone, was so far beyond the pale as to make the other explanations seem reasonable.  Whatever had happened, these two were connected somehow.

 

She was about to reach for the phone to request an immediate relief so she could inform Colonel Monke, when she noticed Korra stir and rise from her position.  Asami spoke to her, her tone clearly hopeful, but Korra shook her head and responded in a tone that contained no enthusiasm.  Apparently whatever she had hoped to accomplish with her meditation had not come to pass.  Shaking out her limbs she rose from the bed and stretched, then seemed to notice Moon.  Smiling, she spoke in what was clearly a greeting (Still saying 'looten') and turned back to Asami as they continued to speak.  As she observed, Moon's reach for the phone was arrested before it began, since she realized that she did not actually have any new information, just a vague impression.  Before any actions were taken they had to begin to understand what was actually going on.  Since she assumed that somebody was working on finding a way to communicate, hopefully with a language teacher already being stuffed in a plane to be sent up here, on-hand observation was the best way to accomplish that.

 

A moment later she realized that they would not have eaten since the night before, so began to escort them towards the cafeteria.  Before they left the dormitory she said the word "food", clearly and by itself.  If they did not understand that 'lieutenant' was a rank and not her name, she did not want to convince them that "I am taking you to get something to eat" was the way you named a meal.  Short, simple phrases were probably the best way to get across a meaning.  The trip to the cafeteria was a lot less cumbersome than the day before, Korra and Asami were no longer gaping at every door or lamp they passed, and that indicated to Moon that she had pegged them correctly as not being from some sort of dirt village. Indoor lighting and heating were not accepted that rapidly if you had never seen them before, in retrospect their reactions now looked more like they had just been unfamiliar with the  _style_ of everything they had seen, not the concepts.  The meal itself passed without note, Moon again repeating the word "food" to drive home the connection, but then she realized that she did not know what to do with them for the rest of the day.

 

They were not prisoners, not exactly, so they did not need to be confined to the dormitory, but it had been made clear that they were not to be allowed into any of the sensitive areas of the station or to walk around unescorted.  Station Alert did not have a lot of recreational activities available, either, especially not for people who could not speak or read any language they were familiar with.  She was about to usher them back to the dormitory when no other idea presented itself (They would have to survive being bored), when she noticed the way Korra was not-quite-fidgeting in her seat.  It was nothing dramatic or exaggerated, like a child about to have a tantrum after being in school too long, but the kind of forcibly-contained motion she had seen often on people who were used to being in motion but had been stuck still for too long.  She knew she had the same look about herself she she could not go running for a few days.  Smiling internally, she guided Korra and Asami down another hallway towards the gymnasium.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got to confess something, I'm really regretting making Judith a Lieutenant, it doesn't fit at all with the planned character. Nothing spoilery here, but even though the plan from the start was for her to be part of the RCAF, for some reason I was thinking in the Naval ranking scale, where Lieutenant is a progression higher than the starting commissioned rank (Sub-Lieutenant in the Canadian forces, Ensign in many other navies). The idea was that she's been in service long enough to have served for a while, gotten promoted in due course, and now she's here. She's in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, and she's not a teenage wunderkind like seems to populate practically the entire Avatar verse (Hence why she would call Korra and Asami "kids" in the previous chapter). However, for her to be a Lieutenant in the Air Force, not the Navy, she's got to either be somebody barely out of BMOQ, or she must have royally screwed up (Or royally pissed somebody off) to have not gotten any promotions at all. If I do make her a new officer then we're right back to teenage (And post-teen) superstars, and if make her somebody who's gone ten years with no promotion then how is she even still in the service?
> 
> I've re-worked it all to make sense (I think), but it's amazing how something that tiny can irritate like a pebble in a shoe.
> 
> For the curious, the rank probably should have been 'Captain' in the original plan, which is the progression up the ladder from Lieutenant in the RCAF. Although, come to think of it, if I'd made her a Captain then why would she have been standing guard? Hmmmmm, lot of angles there....


	11. Chapter 11

One look at their expressions told Lieutenant Moon that she had judged correctly as soon as they entered the gymnasium.  As they turned around to take it in, observing the dozen people already exercising and working with the various machines, it was clear that they had felt exactly as restive as she had thought.  It was no surprise, really; after a week hiking on frozen tundra and then being stuck in a dorm for a day, she would have been climbing the walls to be allowed somewhere to really  _run._  Off their questioning look (They were growing quite adept at communicating just through facial expressions and gestures) she indicated that they were free, standing off to the side where she could continue to observe while staying out of the way.  However, instead of instantly dashing into motion, they stood for a few moments and just watched everybody else in the room, as they had done the day before.  This time, however, they seemed to get more and more confused as they watched.

 

Quickly they fell to talking, almost quarreling, with each other.  Whatever was happening had them worked up to agitation, and they might have been having some sort of argument.  But arguing over what?  Over people working out?  Was it a religious taboo over men and women working out together?  Were they arguing over what skills they should keep hidden?  Without comprehension the argument itself made no more sense than any other conversation they had ever had, but it was clearly important; they had not been _this_ worked up the day before even after the entire pointless debacle in Colonel Monke's office.

 

Eventually it wound down, with (It seemed) Asami persuading Korra to agree with whatever point she had raised, but its subject remained a mystery.  After a moment they began to shrug out of the over clothing they had been provided with and began to explore the gym.  They avoided the equipment, likely it was different from anything they had seen before given how amazed they were by the bed frames yesterday, and gravitated towards the heavy bags lined up against the far wall of the room. After they limbered up, Asami braced the bag as Korra began to work and....wow, suddenly Lieutenant Moon was  _convinced_ that she had been right that they had combat training.  She had half-joked the day before that Korra looked like an MMA fighter, but now Korra  _moved_ like a fighter.  Working against a punching bag was not a perfect display of fighting acumen, but you can tell a lot about somebody from a few basic movements; she balanced herself perfectly, never overextending, and she hit with such power than the impact could be heard across the floor.  Asami, for her part, held the bag perfectly steady, and that told just as much (If not more) than Korra's performance did; holding a bag was extraordinarily simple (All it is is  _holding_ the bag) but 'simple' is not the same thing as 'easy'.  You need to be braced for the impact, you need to be able to anticipate when it comes, and you need your own balance.  With the way Asami was rock steady under Korra's assault it was clear that these two had spent many long hours working together; they knew each other's rhythms down pat.  Korra, for her part, was not just a brute-force puncher, instead working the bag with fist and foot and knee and elbow and everything else she had.  Whether this was how she normally practiced, or if she was just giving vent to everything that had been pent up over what had happened recently, Moon was very happy that she was not the one feeling those blows.

 

After Korra wound down, giving Asami a shaky, exhausted smile, they both moved over to the speed bags and it was Asami's turn to let loose.  She was different than Korra, but no less impressive.  She did not have the bulk or solid muscle mass, but she was apparently tightly corded steel beneath the look that got her called a fashion model.  As she began to work up a rhythm on the bag, catching it rapidly, she sped up further and had it swinging almost too fast to see.  She never missed a rep, knocking it back each time, focused and precise enough to track the bag through each swing.  As with Korra, Moon did not know if this was her normal routine or just a way to let out the frustration she had to be feeling, but either way after a few minutes she felt tired just watching her.

 

They went through half a dozen rotations like that, switching off between the heavy bag and there speed bag, then moved on to padded blocking.  Eventually, they moved away from the equipment and over to the roped off area where some others had been sparring before.  Now it was empty, and the two of them faced each other, apparently ready to spar and...Moon had thought she was impressed before, but their bluntly hitting plastic bags had apparently told her nothing about their actual abilities.  They moved together like water, a cliche which had been repeated many times before but which she had never thought to apply herself, as they advanced and withdrew together.  Korra was constantly changing tactics, as if she was switching through different fighting styles every second; one strike was a rooted, firm blow directly towards Asami midsection, then when Asami parried that she switched to a rolling grapple that seemed intended to flip Asami over, and then was circling away herself after Asami reversed the grapple.  Asami for her part was steady but constantly nimble, dodging and weaving to gain advantage, moving in not so much to  _strike_ Kora, but as if she was going for a simple contact touch.  They went back and forth and they moved in ernest, no blows were pulled, but it was clearly movements with which they were both very familiar.  Almost unbidden, Moon imagined that they were dancing, working through choreography that they  knew to heart.

 

Around her she noticed that most of the other people working out in the gym were also watching, some with jaws agape at the display.  Poetry was not forefront in a lot of their minds, but she could read similar thoughts running through the minds of the soldiers and scientists that had been milling about, that there was something both strong and beautiful about their contest.  Lord knew that Korra and Asami themselves each embodied different aspects of both beauty and strength, but to see it actively on display working together was something else entirely.  Before her mind could wander any further, though, Asami seemed to claim victory in whatever challenge they had going, managing to firmly grasp Korra's shoulder.  Laughing, the two face each other again and bowed deeply to one another before leaving the sparring mat and returning back over to Lieutenant Moon.  With a start, she realized that they had been at the gym for almost three hours, having lost track of time.  She guided them towards the showers to refresh and redress for the rest of the day.

 

As they were cleaning up, though, her mind kept wandering back to the performance that had just completed. Part of it was in appreciation of its beauty, but another part of it was the critical, analytical section of her mind that had not been keeping up during the show. She had up until now regarded herself more as a guide than active guard, since she did not take two isolated and unarmed teenagers as a serious threat to the station and had not received any information to view them as dangerous or restricted, but that display had radically altered her perspective.  Even moreso than her realization earlier in the day that they had some kind of martial history.  Now, she was suddenly unsure if she would have actually been physically able to stop these two if, at any point, they had decided to defy any of her careful guidance.  She had already decided that they were not as harmless as they looked, now she wondered if perhaps they were even more dangerous than that.

 

She resolved to speak with Colonel Monke as soon as possible.


	12. Chapter 12

Abruptly, just before she took another bite of her food, Asami looked up and asked, "Hey, did you notice where Lu-Ten went?"

 

"Hmmmm?" Korra could only make a vague sound as she tried to swallow the noodles she had just picked off her plate (Nothing at all like a proper Water Tribe dish, but tasty nonetheless), and she looked around after Asami's question.  "She isn't here?"  Standing against the wall where Korra had last seen Lu-Ten was another guard, this one a person that she had not seen before.

 

"No, I just noticed, and she didn't say anything before she left.  They've all been saying good-bye--At least I assume they're saying good-bye--when they switch off."

 

"Maybe she had somewhere to be?  I figure she has to do something when she's not watching us, maybe she just didn't want to be late."

 

"That could be it," Asami paused for another mouthful (No reason to let hot food get cold, especially now that they _had_ hot food again), "Maybe they discovered something about what's going on, she looked a little agitated as we left the gym."

 

"Now _that_ would be wonderful, especially if they learn why we can't understand each other.  I'd love to finally be able to speak to somebody...uh...not that I'm getting tired of talking to you, but I just mean we could use some more information about this place, and start to learn about who they are and...." Korra wound down in a small pile of nervousness.

 

Thankfully, Asami's laugh helped draw her out again, "I know, I'd love to be able to talk to them as well, I've never been very good at playing pantomime.  I'm just glad we haven't had to act out going to the bathroom yet, _that_ could get awkward."

 

They both laughed together, and Korra was glad at how easily there had not even been a problem.  When she had been with Mako a line like that would have gotten both of them screaming at each other; even worse was that ten minutes later they would not have been able to give any good explanation as to why, but they would still have the ugly memory of the argument.  That things were so much smoother with Asami just made everything all the sweeter.

 

"Have you been able to understand any of their language yet?  I know Lu-Ten tried to help us out this morning, but if we wait for her to spoon-feed us one word at a time it really will take ten years."

 

"I think I understand what she tried to teach us this morning, or at least close enough.  It sounded like 食品 means 'meal'...unless it just means 'food', 健身房 means 'gym' or 'exercise' and 淋浴 means 'shower'....or maybe 'bathroom'.  I just wish we had somebody who could help narrow this down, I have no idea if I'm even right or not and if we spend a week learning the wrong things it could be worse than if we didn't know anything at all."

 

"Wow, I can't believe you even remembered that much, those words just sound like noise to me."

 

"It's just like taking something apart and putting it back together again.  You don't necessarily need to know what it all does or why, as long as you remember how it all fit together.  Once you see where all the pieces go you can begin to learn what it all means..."  Asami paused for a moment before continuing in a quieter voice, "...that's how my dad first showed me how to work on the engine to a satomobile."

 

Korra wanted to say something to help, but unfortunately there was really nothing  _to_ say at a moment like that.  Regardless of what had happened between them over the past four years, Hiroshi Sato's death would never stop having an impact on Asami.  Still, at least Korra could help keep her mind occupied and away from dwelling on the memories, and picking out the small details was always something Asami was good at.  "What else have you noticed?"

 

"Well, I'm not sure, but it sounds like they're using two different languages here.  I mean, they went through a whole lot more than that yesterday, but I think then they were just trying anything they could think of.  These people here are almost all speaking just the one language, and I think a few are speaking something else."

 

"Yesterday, when they were trying all the different ones, some almost made sense.  Like if we'd listened _really hard_ we could understand them.  These other languages don't even sound like words, it's like they're not even using the right sounds."

 

"I know, I thought that, too, but none of them came together.  I don't know what it is, maybe it's the same thing keeping you from reaching the Spirit World that's keeping us from being able to understand each other.  Have you figured it out yet?"

 

"No, I haven't," now there was a frustrated tinge coloring Korra's voice.  "It doesn't make any sense.  I can meditate just fine, I'm not running into the problems like I had after Zaheer, but I'm just not getting _through._ I can sense spiritual energy, but it's as if it's all **here** , not coming from the Spirit World.  If I didn't know better, I'd say there _was_ no Spirit World, but that doesn't make any sense, either."  Now the frustration was stronger; Korra might have come a long way in dealing with her impatience and self-criticism, and it no longer crippled her as it once had, but she still hated not being able to help those around her.  "All I know is that I'm pushing against a pillow; it gives and gives and gives, but I just sink in instead of coming out the other side, and all this time we're stuck here because I can't get it."

 

Now it was Asami's turn to reassure, as she reached across the table to take Korra's hand.  "Hey, it's okay.  Whatever this is we'll figure it out together, just like we've been doing.  You don't need to save me alone, we'll save each other together."

 

Feeling the warmth in her hand, Korra smiled.  "The sounds like a good deal to me....oh, here comes Lu-Ten."

 

Over Asami's shoulder, Korra saw her coming through the doors of the cafeteria, but then she frowned when saw the additional people following her.  The four men were attired the same as all the other soldiers they had seen so far, except these four carried what looked like metal devices slung along their back on a strap and Korra's instincts were instantly screaming a warning at her.  Whether it was something she sensed through her metalbending, or just from the way they were being held, she knew they were weapons.  She did not know what they did or how, but somehow the threat they posed was clear, and even the other people in the cafeteria were staring in something like shock.  Suddenly she was very glad that Asami had convinced her to not perform any bending when they were working out earlier; she was not sure if she agreed that nobody here had any bending of their own, but if that was true then the surprise would be a big help.  If they _did_ have bending...well, she was the Avatar and had Asami Sato at her side, and together they had faced down armies of Equalists, MechaTanks and Spirit Vine Weapons, she was willing to take that side against whatever it was these metal pieces did.  She braced herself, ready to launch herself at the armed men while she trusted Asami to handle Lu-Ten...when they all marched off to the side and assumed the same guard positions that had been taken since the previous day.

 

So, this was not an attack, at least not yet, but it was not the same escort they had had so far.  Though both Korra and Asami knew that their guards likely would have tried to stop them if they did something these people did not want done, they had tried to acknowledge them more as guides than captors.  After all, they had nowhere they wanted to go now and no hostile intentions, so there was no harm in being a polite guest while they tried to figure out the situation, and they both admitted that they likely would have done the same if the situation had been reversed.  Now, though....now there was no attempt to disguise the fact that these guards were here to make sure they behaved properly, or that they were ready to enforce their desires at the point of a sword.  What had changed?

 

Not taking her eyes off of where the new soldiers stood, Korra slowly relaxed from the tense position she had assumed, and from the corner of her eye saw Asami doing the same.  Without a word they both turned back to what remained of their lunch and resumed eating.

 

No reason to let a hot meal go to waste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking a concept I've seen used before of essentially switching languages when representing two sides of a language barrier, since now that Asami's actually trying to say English words I can't keep writing "meaningless noises" in the middle of her sentences. Hopefully it won't become too cumbersome or confusing, but let me know if I start to lose you.


	13. Chapter 13

As they watched the new guards which had arrived during lunch, both Korra and Asami noticed the attitude with which they approached their duty: They were bored. Oh, there was nothing as blatant as yawning, they all maintained the professional blank expressions that was the mandate of soldiers everywhere, but Korra had grown up with the dedicated guards of the Order of the White Lotus and Asami had grown up surrounded by professional sycophants. They both knew how to read the emotions hidden behind a detached mask, and the newcomers all had the air of people going through a mundane, likely pointless task. Their individual guards from before had had the same look about them, standing guard because their superiors had told them to do so and waiting for when they would be relieved so somebody else could stand there pointlessly. Despite the weapons, they did not have the bearing of people expecting danger or planning to create it. Lu-Ten, on the other hand, seemed to be coiling tighter by the minute, and she was observing the two with a lot more focus than she had displayed the day before.  Whatever had happened to cause this change in their treatment she knew what it was, and maybe she had caused it.  So, if problems were to arise, she was the obvious threat.

 

Korra and Asami had not been actively planning to cause any such problems before, but it was one thing to wait patiently when you were being treated with polite and courteous suspicion, and another thing entirely to wait as a cage was potentially being erected around you.  Before they had completely finished eating, they both knew the time had come for them to break their confinement.  Unfortunately, they both also knew that if they just knocked down a wall to escape they would wind up freezing to death all over again, so a little prudent planning was in order.  They also still had no idea where they even were or what they would find once they reached other civilization; despite all that had happened, they had only been with these strange people for a single day. So, until an opportunity presented itself, they resolved to remain as they were.

 

After lunch they were guided back to the room where they had slept the night before, and they settled down to wait.  To forestall boredom as best they could, and to hopefully learn more about these people, they began to examine in minute detail all the strange forms of objects that filled the room.  As they had noticed yesterday almost everything was made of metal, but cheaply, and now Korra began to agree with Asami that there was no bending at all in this place; everything was bolted or screwed together, or obviously welded, instead of being smoothed into a single piece along the angle.  That might have just meant there was no  _metal_ bending, but why would they work so predominantly in metal if it was the one form they could not control?  If there truly was no bending then Korra saw no serious opposition to them leaving whenever they chose, she could not imagine that the small devices they carried could possibly--

 

Asami's gasp brought her up quickly from examining the bed frame and she hurried over to where Asami had been turning a small lamp over in her hands.  "What is it?  What's wrong?"

 

"Korra...look" and Asami presented the base to her.  Printed on a white label, next to a dozen marks that she assumed was in whatever language they spoke here, was writing she could understand.  It was not particularly clear (It looked like somebody had attacked the characters with a sword), but with an effort it Korra could read it just as well as Asami had.  With delight that she never would have expected to feel at just reading what was apparently a manufacturer's stamp, Korra gleefully shouted "Made in China!"  The she paused and turned back to Asami "...uh, where's China?"

 

"I have no idea, I've never heard of it, and this lamp is as strange as everything else we've seen so it's probably not what they call home for us.  But if we can show them that we speak _this_ language maybe they'll finally get somebody we can understand!"  Thoughts of escape immediately forgotten (Or at least put on hold), they both rushed over to Lu-Ten to show her the writing that they could understand....and immediately stopped when they saw that Lu-Ten was pointing what was clearly another weapon at them, although smaller than the longer one's the other soldiers carried.  She had placed herself before the door and her body language radiated stress and determination, and more than a little fear as well, and it was obvious that she had misunderstood their elation in what might just become a fatal collision.  Whatever had happened during the day to suddenly make her so paranoid had probably set her up to view their shouting and rushing as an attack, or escape, or _something_ , and now she had set herself up as a roadblock against the door, and Korra and Asami still could not _explain_ what was going on.  Slowly, _oh so_ slowly, Korra sidled to the side to place herself between Asami and the weapon; whatever it was that the strange device did she expected it to involve metal, and she wanted to put herself in the position to bend or block it.  Then, still moving as slowly as she could so it would not be mistaken for an attack, she raised the lamp and angled the base towards Lu-Ten, pointing towards the label and making a few sounds, trying to convey that they wanted to try speaking again.  After a moment, Lu-Ten spoke to the other guards with her and they raised their own weapons, but before Korra could react to the threat she lowered her own, returning it to a holster attached to her waist.  Approaching Korra she took the lamp from her and pointed to the same writing, then pointed to Korra and Asami again, who nodded vigorously.  Then she returned to the wall and picked up the phone she had used the day before, quickly speaking to whoever was on the other end.

 

"Okay, what has gotten into her?  For the past few hours she's been looking at us like a bomb waiting to go off."

 

"I don't know, she seemed fine this morning and when she showed us to the gym, but ever since then it's been like.... _that_.  Korra, if you hadn't gotten her to realize we were talking about the writing I think she would have attacked us.  Whatever it is, she's right on the edge."

 

"I know, and if she did....I don't want to have to hurt anybody here, I think they're just as confused as we are, but I'm not going to let any of them hurt you."  From anybody else Asami would have found that kind of protectiveness to be patronizing, but they had fought side-by-side long enough for her to understand exactly how Korra felt.  She remembered back to when Kuvira's supporters had attacked them as they were rescuing Prince Wu from an abduction; when they had been lined up in a train car Korra had placed herself directly in front of Asami to bend away all of the metalbending attacks....just as she had done now.  Smiling, Korra added, "Or me, for that matter."

 

They were interrupted by the sound of Lu-Ten's voice addressing them after hanging up the phone, and gesturing she lead them out of their room and back down the hallway towards the office where they had sifted through different languages the day before.  This time there was just the one man there, with the strange talking picture showing only three people instead of the group from before, and they looked disheveled, as if they had been abruptly pulled together.  Quickly, Lu-Ten gave him the lamp and pointed to the writing Korra and Asami had read, and he then showed it to the picture (Just how did people see and talk through a picture like that?).  They spoke amongst themselves for a moment, then turned back to Korra and Asami and...began speaking the same meaningless patter they had tried the day before.  The words they spoke were at least the almost-words they had recognized the day before, the sounds that seemed closest to a language, but they held no more meaning than anything else.  With a groan of frustration, Korra turned and began to burst out of the room, guards or no guards, when Asami grabbed her arm.  Turning back to the man who still seemed to be in charge, she pantomimed writing on a piece of paper and did her best to show that she wanted something to write with.  He paused for a moment and exchanged a quick look with Lu-Ten over Asami's shoulder, and then handed her a blank sheet of paper and a pen, although needless to say the pen was like none Asami had ever seen before.  Taking both, Asami did not even have to think before she wrote out the same greeting she and Korra had been repeating since they first saw these people out on the ice.

 

"Hello, my name is Asami and this is Korra.  We do not know where we are or who you are.  What is this place?  Can you understand our words?"

 

The man stared at what she had written for a moment, pressed it against the picture...no, now Asami noticed that he actually seemed to be showing it to a glass orb on the top of the screen.  Was that a camera?  Whatever it was, the men in the picture were suddenly very excited, talking to each other before one of them took out a piece of paper and wrote a message of their own.  Holding it up, Korra and Asami could read a response to something they had said for the first time: "Yes, we can read these words."

 

Laughing, they leapt up and clasped each other, relieved that they could finally communicate with these people, could finally get some answers.  The writing was the same style as on the label, different from what they were used to, but they could make it out.  Quickly, Asami wrote another note, re-asking the question they seemed to have overlooked, "What is this place?  Who are you?"

 

"You are at a 加拿大 military base"  They did not understand the word "加拿大", but both assumed it was the name for whoever these people were.  What else could it have meant?  The note continued, "How did you get here?"

 

Now they took their time to explain what had happened.  "We do not know.  We were in the Spirit World for a vacation and were trying to go to the North Pole, but when we walked through the Spirit Portal we wound up on this endless ice.  We were out there for days, we do not know exactly how long, at least a week.  We were almost dead when you found us.  Thank you."

 

That note got a very mixed reaction; half of the men looked confused, and half looked angry, as if they were not sure if they were being made fun of.  "Where are you from?"

 

Asami paused before writing, unsure how to answer.  Korra had been raised in the Southern Water Tribe, and Asami's parents had heritage in both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, but..."We are from Republic City in the United Republic of Nations."

 

This reaction was more extreme than the previous note had gotten.  For a few minutes it was as if everybody had forgotten that Asami and Korra were there, talking back and forth with increasing intensity.  Eventually, one of the people in the picture walked off the side and the others began writing again.  "Do you represent the United Nations?"

 

What did that mean?  Did these people know of the United Republic?  What did they mean by 'represent'?  "We are both friends (Korra made an indignant noise at that, but Asami shushed her and kept writing) of President Raiko and are eager to return home.  I represent the Future Industries corporation and Korra (She paused for a moment, unsure exactly what to say) is close to many of the world leaders."

 

The impact of _this_ note made the previous noises seem tame, as they were again confused and angry.  As they were talking amongst themselves the man who had walked off the side of the picture returned with another, this one older and dressed in a uniform that was similar to the others, but which had lot more colors and markers.  As soon as he appeared the others got very quiet, as if waiting for him to speak.  He looked over the notes that had been exchanged already, then spent a minute just looking over Asami and Korra directly.  Eventually, he said something to the men that had been translating, which seemed to make everybody more tense, but which they dutifully wrote out.

 

"What do you have to do with the 辐射和电磁脉冲?"

 

Korra and Asami stared at the note for a while, trying to decipher the unknown words.  Was this what had everybody so excited?  The individual characters made sense, but as a whole it was gibberish, something about magnets radiating electricity.  They might have been referring to the way Varrick had disarmed some of Kuvira's mecha suits during the final battle for Republic City, but that could only be a part of it.  Ultimately, they could only shrug their shoulders and write what they knew.

 

"I'm sorry, but we did not bring any magnets with us from the Spirit World."


	14. Chapter 14

As he watched the two increasingly-incongruous women be lead from his office, Lieutenant-colonel George Monke considered just what to make of everything they had said.  Either they were deliberately obscuring their origin, for whatever reason, or.....he could not quite imagine the 'or'.  Almost nothing they had said made sense; they spoke as if from a completely different world, and likely he would have regarded them as developmentally disabled children (Traveling to the 'Spirit World' and being teleported to the North Pole?) if they had not been so otherwise functional.  After they and their guards had left he marshaled his thoughts and turned to the video conference still running.  "What do you think, sir?"

 

Major-general Antoine Saint-Amand paused for a moment before he dryly remarked "Well, I for one do not believe that they are part of a UN investigative team."

 

Monke had to fight down a snort of laughter before responding. "Yes, sir.  Were any of those names familiar to you?  I don't know of any 'President Raiko' or anything else they mentioned, either in the UN or elsewhere."

 

"No, and I had people digging into that as they were writing.  Nothing they said lined up with anything unless our translations are working at cross-purposes.  Have they spoken anything else since they arrived, where we can have a better conversation?"

 

"Unfortunately not, and right now we've still got no idea what their language actually is.  I don't know how many different languages we ran through yesterday, but nothing was comprehensible and I drove the CFLS team as hard as I could.  I was hoping they could figure it out now that Lieutenant Moon discovered they could read Chinese, but they tried a half-dozen dialects with no results.  The translators said they were writing using Traditional Chinese, not Simplified, which the PRC has been has been implementing for sixty years now.  It could be they've been out of contact with mainland China since before the middle of the twentieth century."

 

"Or they could just be running us all around in circles."  General Saint-Amand was suddenly morose, the thought of dealing with China in all this was clearly not something he was looking forward to.  "This Lieutenant Moon you just mentioned, she's the one who told you she thinks these two are combat ready of some sort?"

 

"Yes, sir.  She was one of the escorts chaperoning them and took them to the gym this morning, she says she hasn't seen hand-to-hand displays like that outside of an SF demonstration.  I checked with a few of the other off-duty personnel that were there on their own time; one of them, a Sergeant Bilson, spent some time on assignment working with the Special Air Service a few years ago and he supports her."  His mouth crooked in what was almost a smile, "In fact, he said that from what he saw these two could probably have taken him and anybody else from The Regiment.  Not something I ever expected a man like him to admit about a pair of teenage girls, even if they had already done so."

 

"That must have been a hell of a demonstration then, and it also means that they're definitely not just out here by random chance.  How old were they again?"

 

"Holy on a second, sir, let me find that scrap...ah, here it is.  According to them, Korra, she's the darker one, sir, is twenty-one, and Asami is twenty-two....just where do two women get the training and experience to put a scare into Bilson before they can even rent a car?"

 

"....has there been any progress on other areas of the investigation?"

 

"No, sir, no changes since yesterday's update.  I believe we've located the exact source of the pulse, but we're still not finding anything....of anything.  No radiation, no debris, no shockwave or blast markers, just ice and snow.  We've had long-distance contact with Russian teams and they look just as clueless as us.  I'm just about ready to mark the whole thing down as 'unexplainable natural causes' except...."

 

"Except?"

 

"...except, as everybody's been saying, I can't accept that we find two foreign nationals, who apparently have combat experience and no known affiliation, a hundred miles from the most intense radiation burst and electro-magnetic pulse in history as some sort of coincidence.  Even if I believed in coincidences that would be too much all by itself, let alone when combined with everything else that doesn't make sense about them.  For example, something that was only brought to my attention a little while ago after Lieutenant Moon voiced her concerns to me and we began going through their supplies again.  The search teams only spotted them because of a signal flare that they sent up, but they don't have a flare gun.  Nothing explosive, either, just a small cooking stove.  It's possible it was just left behind on the tundra, but the search team is confident they gathered up everything at the scene.  Nobody noticed at the time, since who notices when something _isn't_ there, but that's another oddity, and it might mean that there was somebody else with them who signaled the helicopter.  Add to that the fact that they have to be deliberately lying to us and they've got _something_ to do with this, even if they're just the mistresses of whoever's actually behind the pulse."

 

General Saint-Amand considered that for a moment and could not find any critical flaw in Monke's reasoning, and for that matter had already agreed with him that their presence was too strange to dismiss.  But why such ridiculous lies, to name countries and politicians that did not even exist?  Why not something at least plausible instead of directly false, or continued silence if they could not come up with a convincing falsehood?  As others had already said over and over again, it just did not make sense.

 

"Okay, George, I think this is as much as you'll be able to get out of them up there, we can't conduct an interrogation by Taylor Swifting through a computer monitor."  Colonel Monke wisely said not one single damn thing about the reference.  Being a General allowed one to get away with something like that.  "When's your next supply run?"

 

"Tomorrow, actually.  I'll need to confirm the details but I believe we're expecting additional equipment along with some personnel replacements, we had to scramble faster than I wanted to get up here as quickly as we did."

 

"I'll send along the formal notification once I've spoken to the CFLS for the best arrangement, but I'd like you to prepare to have these two transported out on the return flight.  Maybe we'll have better luck with the translators face-to-face."

 

"I hope so, sir.  I'll have everything arranged for tomorrow."

 

"Excellent, thank you, Colonel.  Now, I've got to go see what else has popped up."  With a brusque nod, the video connection cut out.

 

Colonel Monke was reaching for his order pad almost before the General had disconnected, prepping the transfer instructions for the next day.  Hopefully they would have better luck further south, and if not....well, if not it was out of his hands.  Soon all he would need to fight against would be the cold, wind and snow of the North Pole, and that was more than simple enough for his satisfaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably going to begin responding to comments that people make now, because OMFG I'M GETTING COMMENTS YAY!!!!


	15. Chapter 15

The next day, a C-130J Super Hercules taxied down the runway at the Alert Airport with renewed supplies and personnel who had been left behind in the mad rush to staff Station Alert after their instruments had gone off the scale a week ago.  In turn, it was loaded down with all of the returning and disposable material and personnel that would be returning to Canadian Forces Base Trenton 4,000 kilometers to the south.   Taken along were Korra, Asami, Lieutenant Moon, and the accompanying guards that she had managed to convince Colonel Monke to place the day before.  Most still had the look of not taking their duties seriously (Honestly, they were supposed to view these two kids as a threat?), but they were conscientious regardless, and she thought that she had managed to impress on them that, even if they did not believe it themselves, _she_ saw a threat.  Also aboard were copies of all the documentation they had from the past two days; recordings of their interviews with Colonel Monke, the notes they had written, and every other scrap of information they could collect.  Hopefully, when they were face-to-face with a trained linguist or interrogator they would start to make sense.

 

Getting Korra and Asami to cooperate had not been difficult; Colonel Monke had had the linguists write out for them a few basic instruction cards they could display at need, and it turned out that one of the weather technicians who normally staffed Station Alert had a son studying Mandarin back home.  He did not know any of it himself, but he had somehow brought along an English/Chinese dictionary when he rotated up to the station a few weeks ago before everything had started.  With their cue cards, wide hand gestures, and some painstaking back-and-forth with the dictionary, things had gone smoothly enough, and now the two were boarding the plane without complaint.  If anything, they seemed relieved; though swathed in cold-weather gear (Even a short walk from the compound to the airfield could lead to frostbite in weather like this) Moon could tell that they were excited at the prospect of going somewhere, _anywhere_ , else.  Considering the state they had been found in, she had no problem believeing that, and truth be told she would not mind a break from the Arctic, either.  As always for the past two days they stopped to gape at the plane itself, but before they could take too long or try to walk up to the wheels or whatever they were fascinated by (What _was_ their obsession with everything?), Moon ushered them inside, had them strapped in, and took her own seat for the long flight south.

 

She kept her eye on them as the plane readied for takeoff and noted with some surprise that they seemed completely unprepared for the roar of the engines.  As the sound grew to a crescendo they began to look scared, almost panicked, in a way that had never been seen despite all their previous confusion.  Even during their standoff the day before they had not looked _scared,_ just aware and appreciative of the threat Moon had presented.  Now, though, they both sat bolt upright at the noise, as if it was something they had never encountered.  Had they never flown before?  Could that be it?  They had not seemed apprehensive before at the thought of flight, and that again raised the question of just how they had physically gotten to the area, but now they were looking around in something close to terror.  However, at the apparent calm of everybody else in the cabin (Some were even napping already) they relaxed almost instantly and the motion of takeoff had no appreciable effect upon them.  What the hell?  Was it really just the _noise_ that bothered them, not flying?  How did they normally get around, by blimp?  That was another tally placed in the long list of things which did not seem to make sense.

 

The flight itself would cover a huge swathe of territory, including parts of Greenland, Baffin Bay, and several of the north-east territories before it arrived in Ontario, and Lieutenant Moon settled in for what she hoped would be a boring, monotonous trip.  She almost got her wish.

 

As the hours passed the two women had been talking quietly for much of trip, partaking of the in-flight meal without complaint (Perhaps there were benefits to a language barrier after all), until the plane finally began to emerge from the frozen wasteland the capped the world.  As greenery began to appear in sight of the windows (Moon figured they had to be somewhere over Quebec by now, but had not been given an exact positioning) they grew excited, pointing and talking with a laughing tone which had been absent for a while.  How long had it been since they had seen greenery?  They had said they were on the ice for a week, which would certainly be long enough for anybody to miss the feel of grass, but with the way everything else they said did not make sense, they might have been out there for far longer for all Moon knew.  If she had been stuck in snow for that long she would have been itching to go anywhere that had a positive temperature.

 

That was when they made their escape.

 

In the closed off, analytical portion of her mind, Lieutenant Moon noted that as the final piece she needed to definitively say that these women had seen combat before; they had no apprehension, no jitters, and had not given anything away, they were as calm as they had been for the entire flight.  For them, the change from sitting peacefully to escaping a military aircraft was as easy as deciding to change seats on a couch.  Either they were a pair of sociopaths who did not feel the same way other people did, or they were so supremely confident in their abilities and had so much history of danger that it had become blasé to them.  In the rest of her mind, which was not as isolated and needed to react to the situation, she was caught completely off guard as Asami leapt out of her seat, jumped over the seats between them, and pulled Moon out of hers, twisting her arm behind her in a move which immobilized her quite completely given that any pressure sent pain shooting down the side of her body.   Asami just held her, speaking quietly in a voice which Moon assumed was meant to be soothing, as Korra in her turn stepped over to the wall of the cabin and placed her hands flat against it, feeling the metal.  Around her Moon could hear the surprised shouts and cursing from the other passengers, and then the distinctive sounds of rounds being chambered into several a C7 rifles--her men had not been taken out after all.  In that same closed off portion of her mind she felt a moment of detached pride in the guards, they had reacted quite promptly, but then she was confused as the guards began to gasp or curse themselves and she heard strange sounds that she could not quite identify; it sounded like metal bending and popping, but from her twisted position she could not see what was happening.  Now all she heard were shouts of surprise and confusion coming from all around her --and then a loud, shrieking, tearing noise as a section of the cabin's hull just _tore its way open_.

 

The cutting, cold wind roared through the cabin and the plane lunged to the side, and suddenly she was free.  Asami had released her, with an expression that was almost apologetic, and then she turned and began to run towards the new egress in the cabin's side, which Moon belatedly realized Korra had already leapt from.  She did not know what was going on, did not know how they had managed to disable the guards or what had ripped open the side of the plane, but when she saw Asami about to make her escape ('Escape to _where_?' the closed off portion of her mind asked.  They were nearly 30,000 feet in the air) she lurched to her feet and took a few unsteady steps after her, then reached out and grabbed Asami's arm just before she leapt from the plane....and was dragged out of the hole right after her.

 

The entire affair had taken maybe twenty seconds from when Asami had first left her seat.

 

As she spun as she fell she caught a quick glimpse of Korra, who had apparently not fallen.  She was instead standing (Standing?  In mid-air?) right next to the hole she had somehow torn in the side of the plane, with her hands again placed flat against the metal hull.  After a moment which seemed to last for hours, but which Moon knew could only have been fractions of a second, Korra began waving her arms _and the hole sealed itself_.  She did not know what Korra had done, nor what damage had been caused when the hole was torn in the first place, but there was no longer a gaping wound in the side of the Super Hercules as it limped away....and then the closed off portion of her mind had its barriers broken by the panic of the rest of her mind and she found herself screaming her throat raw as she plummeted the five miles to the hard ground which was rapidly coming up to meet her.

 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Korra streamline over to Asami, where they clasped hands and...were they laughing?  Laughing _now_?  They leaned in to each other and kissed, slowly and with relish, and Moon wondered if this was some sort of lovers suicide pact.  Was that how they could be so calm?  As tears flowed down her face she tried to catch sight of the plane, but she had already lost sight of it in the vast blue sky, and then she gave another scream as she felt something grab her hand.  Korra and Asami had both dived over to where she was, and now Korra was pulling her into an embrace; without the strength to fight her, Moon allowed herself to be pulled.  Staring down at the ground, she began to pray.  She had not prayed in years, not since before she left home, but as the land swelled in her view she found the words that had been drilled into her as a child come unbidden to her mind and her voice.

 

"שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יהוה אֶחָד".  With her body literally rushing to its doom she could not keep it within.  She closed her eyes, let Korra hold her tight, and waited.....and waited....and waited a little longer as well.  Now she opened her eyes in confusion; the analytical section that might have timed the length of her fall had not managed to start up again, but even in her panic she thought that the process was taking a lot longer than it should have.  Looking down, it almost seemed as if their descent was slowing and...was that wind coming up from beneath them?  It felt like a breeze blowing upwards to break their fall.  Confusion warring with her fear she looked across at Asami to see her perfectly calm, as if she jumped from airplanes every day, and then she looked at Korra and....Korra was straining.  Her eyes were closed and her muscles were tight as if she was struggling against a heavy weight, and as the breeze beneath them strengthened so did her exertions.  Was she....how could she....now the panic rose again and Moon began to thrash as the ground continued to steadily rise to meet them. Even with their slowed descent it was not enough, they were still going to impact.  It was only seconds away, and she wondered if she would feel it or if everything would just stop, when everything changed in an instant.  Korra....Korra **glowed**.  For a brief moment her eyes shone like the stars, like a full moon high in the sky, and the breeze beneath them become a hurricane gale that almost flung them all upwards.  Not only that, but jets of flame shot from Korra's feet, bright enough to sear Moon's eyes as they pushed against the ground that was barely a few dozen feet beneath them now.  Slowly now, slower than a smooth elevator ride, Korra lowered them all to the ground and they settled as quietly and easily as hopping down from a small step.

 

Korra and Asami both stood there as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened, slowly stretching as if they had just woken out of bed.  Moon, on the other hand, fell to her knees, staring at them with an expression that could not seem to decide if it wanted to be filled with horror or reverence.  With trembling hands she reached towards her belt; her pistol had been lost (Whether aboard the plane or during the fall she did not know), but her knife was still there and she slowly drew it, brandishing it towards Korra in fear.  She did not have the strength to stand, or do much of anything, but she was determined not to cower before these...whatever they were.  Korra, however, with a look that was partly pity, extended her arm and made a grabbing motion in the air, and the knife flew from Moon's hand and stuck in the ground a few feet away.

 

At that she lost control completely and curled in on herself, weeping quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prayer Lieutenant Moon uttered as they were falling is "Shema Yisrael", a Hebrew prayer which translates as "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One". It is regarded as essentially the complete encapsulation of Judaism in a single sentence, much like John 3:16 encapsulates Christianity ("For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"). Traditionally it is the prayer you are supposed to utter before you die,


	16. Chapter 16

"How is she?" Asami's voice was concerned as she helped Korra sit down next to the fire they had built up. As Korra eased to the ground she let out a sigh that was almost a moan and practically collapsed over onto her side from the exhaustion. Waterbending healing was not particularly intense, but it required constant energy and unless the healing was something quick and simple like a broken bone it wore her down more than almost any other bending she knew.  She leaned over to rest against Asami's side, laying her head atop Asami's shoulder

 

"She's doing okay for now, but she's still not in good shape." On the other side of the fire, she and Asami had made a small bed out of the overcoats they had worn to the plane and Lu-Ten was stretched out, sleeping but still shaking occasionally. "I've never worked on somebody who was that...broken....without any physical injury, so I'm not sure how much I could help. I did my best to smooth out the chi blockages I could, but...." She trailed off and Asami nodded. "You must be right about them not having any bending at all here, the way she looked before she passed out was like her whole world had been flipped."

 

"I can't believe she followed us out of the plane. I knew you would be there to catch me, but she must have thought she was leaping to her death and she did it anyway.  She didn't even have a parachute.  I don't know if that's brave or scary, what kind of world do these people have that they'll throw their own lives away like that?"

 

"I don't know...maybe it's time we found out."

 

For a few moments they stayed like that, just lying against each other and taking in the heat of the fire as they sat beneath the trees.  It was mercifully warm here, warm enough that they did not really **need** a fire, and the feel of grass beneath them and a woodland breeze against their faces was as refreshing as their Spirit World holiday had been, especially after the combined time of being stranded and then being stuck in that cold base.  Even this forest was not exactly the same as the forests they knew, the sounds of the animals were different, but that was small, and if they closed their eyes they could imagine they were back home, sitting in Avatar Korra Park or the Spirit Wilds and just taking it easy.  Unfortunately, such a respite could not last.  With a groan, Korra and Asami both rose to their feet and began to sort out what supplies they had.

 

It was less than they had had when they first found themselves stranded in this world, limited to just what they had been wearing and what Lu-Ten had carried in her pockets, but thankfully the environment was much less harsh this time.  The weather was mild, and Korra's earthbending could take care of whatever shelter they would need now that they had Earth beneath them again.  The had not spotted any game yet, but they could hear the rustle of animals all around them, so hunting for food should not prove too difficult.  When it came to simple survival, then, neither foresaw any kind of problems.  Anything _more_ than simple survival, on the other hand...in one of Lu-Ten's pockets they had found a map, hopefully of the land that they were in, and it was _vast_.  Neither of them could read the writing or scale, but it looked to be almost as large as the Earth Kingdom itself and showed nothing they could recognize; what's worse, the lands that extended off the bottom indicated this was not even the whole world.  They had not expected to find a familiar image, by now they both accepted that they were somewhere far away from anything they knew, but to see such an expanse was disappointing on its own, since they were not even entirely sure where they were.  They had passed over an ocean and travelled slightly inland during their flight that they could track from the windows, so the eastern coast was likely, but that was as specific as they could get.  The rest of the supplies were no more immediately useful; a few notepads, what looked to be a translation of some sort since it was filled half with writing they could read and half of the strange language, and the miscellaneous bits of this-and-that Lu-Ten had had about her person.  Once she awoke they would probably be useful, but for now they contented themselves with bending an earthen box to protect them from any rain and then they both laid themselves down beside the fire.  They could not stay here forever, it was likely that the people they had escaped from would be searching for them, but hopefully they would be slowed down by the expansive territory itself, and maybe they would think that Korra and Asami had perished in the fall.  If they did not know about bending then they had to assume that they had fallen straight to their deaths, and hopefully that would give them enough time to see what they were going to do next.

 

Suddenly, Asami laughed to herself, a small giggle that she tried (and failed) to keep from Korra.  "What's so funny?" she asked.

 

"I was just thinking back to the last time we broke out of an airship together, we always seem to wind up getting stuck wherever we end up and needing to escape all over again."

 

After a moment Korra began laughing, too.  "At least this time we didn't crash the plane." 

 

"Yeah," Asami agreed, "it would be hard to make something as cheap as Cabbage Corp does," and they both laughed again.

 

 It was too early to sleep, but they held hands and watched the sky and listened to the sounds of the forest around them.  For now, they were free and together, and that was all they needed.

 

\----

 

It was a sharp cry that stirred Korra and Asami from the light doze they had fallen into, and they both looked over to see Lu-Ten sitting up from her makeshift bed, her frantic gaze darting around her.  When they got up to walk over to her she visibly flinched and began to crawl away from them---no, she tried to crawl away from _Korra_ , clawing at the jacket which entangled her legs as if it were a net.  When she saw that, Korra paused, then waved Asami forward alone.  She approached with her arms held open and away from her body, as non-threatening as possible, and spoke in as soothing a tone as she could.  They both knew Lu-Ten would not understand her, but it was important to keep contact as best they could.

 

"Hey, it's okay.  You're safe, we're not going to hurt you.  I know you're scared right now, but you can trust us.  Would you like something to drink?"  Earlier Korra had bent them a few cups and drawn up some water, now Asami held out one of them.  At Lu-Ten's hesitation she sipped from her own, trying to convey that it was safe.  After that Lu-Ten began to guzzle the water, emptying the cup in seconds.  When it was all gone she returned her gaze to Asami, and there was still a wild, frantic look to them, barely one step removed from animalistic terror.  It pained Asami to see such an expression; it was not as if they had been friends, having only known each other for three days and never being able to communicate, but Lu-Ten had been courteous enough for the first day and had shown them around the mysterious facility, guided them to lunch and also the gym.  Even with the tension that had arisen she had never been actively _mean_ , and even if she had...Asami could not bear to see even an enemy reduced to such a debased state.  She picked up the book that they figured had to be a translation guide and opened to the word 'Friend', hoping it was a direct reference like they thought.

 

"Friend.  We are friends."  She placed the book in Lu-Ten's lap and pointed directly to the entry for 'Friend'.  "Friend" she said again, then waved Korra to come over to her.  Lu-Ten's eyes widened again as Korra approached, but she was at least able to remain calm enough to stay still.

 

Korra sat down in front of her and took Asami's hand, then pointed to the translation as Asami had done, saying "Friend" herself.  She felt a little foolish, repeating the same word over and over again like a broken phonograph record when they both knew that Lu-Ten could not understand them, but it was important that they get this meaning across.  When Lu-Ten nodded (Agreeing to be friends?  Only acknowledging that she had understood?) Korra stepped back a pace and held out her arm.  "Friend" she said again...then firebended a small flame into the palm of her hand.  Lu-Ten almost jumped, very impressive considering she sitting down at the moment, but Korra said "Friend" again, directly and with enough emphasis to break through her instant shock.   She stood there, holding the firebending, letting Lu-Ten get used to the sight of her controlling the flame.  She and Asami still did not know what they were going to be doing, but they could not abandon Lu-Ten in the wilderness, so they would need to bring her along and she would need to be used to bending.  When Lu-Ten seemed to relax she dropped the fire and stepped back over to her, again pointing to the page of the book where "friend" was written.

 

"I know you can't understand either of us, but we're really not your enemy, and we have no desire to hurt you.  We're going to do our best to help you, you should be better tomorrow or the next day, and then we're going to try and get out of this forest together.  We still don't know where we are, but we're hoping you can help with that, and then we can go our separate ways.  This world is still strange to us, but for now, just think of us as friends."

 

Lu-Ten looked at both Korra and Asami, then at the small camp they had set up, then back down at the book in her lap.  Slowly, she looked at the both of them and, with a look of concentration that was almost comical on her usually stern face, she said "Friend."  Her pronunciation was atrocious, barely comprehensible, but it was enough.  Smiling, Korra and Asami both nodded and said it again.

 

"Friend".


	17. Chapter 17

When Judith Moon awoke the next morning she felt better.  **Much** better.  As she swam her way up from her deep sleep she felt calmer and more at peace than she had for days, with none of the internal twisting after the shocks of the previous day....then she opened her eyes and began screaming again.  Korra stood over her, hands glowing, reaching down to do who-knew-what, and she once again started thrashing out from beneath the jacket that been laid down as a blanket for her.  In an instant Asami was kneeling next to her, shouting "Looten" at the top of her lungs until she stilled and was able to think for a moment.  They had apparently expected this, as they already had the dictionary open again and Asami pointed to 复原, which according to the translation meant "Recovery".  Was this medicine?  When they saw that she had read the dictionary entry Korra again ran the glowing hands along her body, and as she did Moon felt her tension and anxiety slowly fade away, as if her internal dams had been opened and they had just drained away.  After a few minutes Korra stood up and the glow disappeared, leaving her hands dripping with...was that water?  Regular water?  What _were_ these abilities, and just how many powers did these two have?

 

When they saw that she had calmed down, Asami offered her a hand up and gestured towards the fire they had going.  For a brief second she wondered how they had started a fire given they had no camping supplies, but the vivid memory of Korra literally conjuring up fire in her palm almost made her slap her forehead.  Surprisingly, there was no attached shock with the memory, as if the fear and anger she had been feeling had drained out with her general anxiety moments ago.  Was that related?  Wait, had they _brainwashed her_?  She was about to get angry all over again when she forced herself to stop and take a calming breath; right now all they were doing was offering a seat next to a warm fire, there would be plenty of time during the day for pointless accusations.

 

"Thank you" she said, even though she knew they would not understand her.  "Do we have anything to eat?"

 

She meant it to be rhetorical, partly because she knew they could not respond and partly because she knew they most certainly did not have any food, but she was surprised when Asami seemed to nod in confirmation and say something to Korra.  Had she actually understood her?  Or was she just making an educated guess?  Whatever the cause, Korra turned and walked into the trees, returning in a moment dragging an animal carcass behind her.  A very large animal carcass, with very distinct antlers and....

 

"Holy Crap, did you kill a _moose_?"  Neither answered her, of course, but in seconds Korra had dragged it close enough to definitively establish that yes, she had in fact hunted a moose.  Which was ridiculous, for several reasons, but then she realized that they might not be so ridiculous for these two...people?  She did not know what to call them, at this point she was not even entirely sure that they were human.  With their magic (It seemed difficult to call it anything except magic) their lack of weapons obviously had not been a hindrance in hunting, and Korra was pulling what looked like an 800-pound bull as if it was no heavier than a weighted backpack.  It seemed extraordinarily wasteful, since they would be forced to leave much of its carcass behind when they left camp, but maybe that had been all she could catch.  It was just....for some reason, Moon felt almost insulted: the spend a day in the Canadian wilderness and already they were hunting moose.  She had read adventure tales from the United States that started the same way and they struck her as being ridiculously stereotyped, but now it was actually happening.  That meant...she had no idea what that meant, but it meant _something_.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, without having eaten for almost a solid day now and with nothing else available, she was not going to quibble over national depictions.  "At this rate we'll be rescued by the Mounties in short order."

 

Korra dropped the animal just outside the rough area that had been described in their camp and bowed to Asami with a flourish, as if presenting her with a great gift.  Asami, for her part, accepted it with all the grace merited by such an illustrious presentation and leaned in to give Korra a kiss on the cheek.  However, then she stood there a bit unsure and spoke to Korra while gesturing at the animal, and Moon got the distinct impression that she had absolutely no idea what to _do_ with it.  Come to think of it, neither did she, she had never been game hunting in her life and had no idea how to properly do...well, anything with regards to cooking an animal like this.  In a pinch she could have hacked it to pieces and put it over a fire, but that was about it.  Thankfully, Korra seemed well versed in the hunter's lifestyle, and in moments she had begun to cut, clean and order the moose with practiced motions that showed she was an old hand at surviving off the land.  With a start Moon noticed that the knife Korra was using was her own, that Korra had pulled from her hand the day before.  What did that say about her powers?  Did it say anything?  She resolved to look into that....once she had eaten breakfast and could thinking more clearly.  A few minutes later there were several skewers of meat toasting in the fire, several more strips hanging above the fire, and even the hide had been removed and was hanging from a tree.  Whatever these people were, they at least were no stranger to working with animals.

 

As Korra worked, Asami brought Moon over to a small stone chest (They made a _chest_?  **How**?) and they began going through what had survived the unexpected trip down from the C130.  Unfortunately, it was not much, and not immediately helpful.  Her radio must have fallen off during the fall, if it had made it out of the plane at all, so she had no means of contacting the RCAF.  There was her spare clip of 9mm rounds, but she already knew her pistol was missing.  Some blank pads of paper would be helpful, since she had carried them to communicate with these two, so that was something.  She also saw that they had recovered her personal pocket knife; a Victorinox Swiss-army knife that she had carried since before she enlisted.  She smiled as she picked it up, it had been a gift from Tapeesa...many years ago now.  She might actually get some use out of it.  Then Asami handed her a folded map and they got down to work.

 

Leaving the meat to cook by itself, they opened the map and Korra and Asami watched her as she tried to pick out where they might be and where they might go.  As near as she figured they were somewhere in north-eastern Quebec, but she could not narrow it down any further than that, and it was national overview map in any case, not detailed down to a level that would guide them out of these woods if they knew which ones they were.  As she looked it over Korra and Asami spoke rapidly back and forth, then Asami grabbed the dictionary they had been using and flipped through it before presenting an open page to her, pointing to "哪里".

 

"'Where'?  Where are we?  Well, I believe we're..." as she moved to point Asami shook her head, then waved over the whole map.  "The whole place?  The country?  You don't even....I'm honestly not sure what to make of this anymore.  We're in Canada.  Canada."  She paused for a moment to let the space fill up, making sure they did not think the whole sentence was part of the answer (They were still calling her 'looten' after all) then said it again, the name alone, "Canada".

 

Both Korra and Asami tried to say it back.  They said it as poorly as she herself had likely said 'friend' the day before, but Moon could understand it, and she nodded, which got both of them to grin.

 

"Yes, we're in Canada.  The problem is that I've never walked out of the north-eastern provinces on foot, so we need to figure this out.  And while we're working on names, let me have that."  She grabbed the dictionary and flipped through it herself, stopping on 别, which supposedly meant 'no'.  Looking at both of them she said "Looten" and pointed to the symbol, trying to get across that it was not her name.  They both nodded and she flipped through it again, trying to find the translation for 'lieutenant', 陆军中尉.  She said it again and pointed to the symbol, trying to get across that it was her rank.  When they nodded again she pointed to herself and said, leaving off the rank completely so as to not confuse the matter, "Judith Moon.  Judith Moon."  She pointed to each of them in turn and said "Korra, Asami, Judith Moon."  Again they both nodded and said, with pronunciation nearly identical to when they had said 'Canada', "Judith Moon."  Smiling, she nodded and returned the dictionary to them, then went back to looking at the map.  Maybe they could get out of this without killing each other after all.

 

Then Korra indicated that the first skewers were done and she stopped looking over the map to have her first taste of roasted moose (It still sounded like a badly written story to her).


	18. Chapter 18

With a full stomach and a beautiful day about them, Judith Moon almost felt back to normal, as if she had not dropped from an airplane the day before in pursuit of two strange women with magical powers.  Like she knew they were feeling, she was tempted to just lie on the grass and let the day pass on by.  Sadly, she also knew that that was not an option.  She needed to find a way to make contact with somebody in her chain of command and return to an RCAF installation, and she also knew that she had no way of compelling the other two to go along with her.  Even if she had been fully armed and equipped she did not think she stood any kind of chance in a physical confrontation; she had already suspected she was outmatched just watching them spar with each other, with the addition of....everything else....it would have been like a monkey trying to bully a tank.  They had escaped in seconds before on what seemed like a whim, and she was under no illusions that they could do the same again.  The thought of how to proceed as a group weighed heavily on her mind.

 

Thankfully for the issue of clarity, at least, Korra and Asami settled that rather quickly and definitively.  They had apparently already been considering that situation, and they approached her with a written note longer and more complicated than they had used so far.  The meaning was complicated, and certainly lost something of its nuance as she translated character by character, but it was clear enough at the end: Korra and Asami would help her survive the wilderness and return to the RCAF, but they would not allow themselves to be taken into captivity, and they warned her against trying to force them against their will.  They made no threat, but the memory of Korra shining like the stars and flying on a pillar of fire came to her mind regardless and she gave a choppy nod; she had no wish to antagonize them in the least.  Satisfied, the three of them settled into amiable silence as she continued to review the map and they chewed the last of their cooked venison.  Korra got up and continued to work with the rest of the uncooked carcass, and also with the skinned hide she had hung from a tree.  Asami for her part seemed to be doing absolutely nothing at all, just staring up at the sky, but Judith had stopped viewing _anything_ these two did as possibly being pointless.

 

Towards midday, she rose to her feet and called over both Asami and Korra to look over the map.

 

"As best as I can figure, we're somewhere in this area."  She gestured towards the north-east section of Quebec, west of the border with Newfoundland and Labrador.  "This area is not very densely populated, we will need to travel south before we are likely to run into any large population centers."  She had to pause for a moment as she looked up 'No people' and 'walk south', but Korra and Asami seemed to be following along fine.  "I have had survival training and exposure to these environments, but I am not an expert, this is outside my purview."  There was another break here; she did not bother trying to translate her entire sentences, just the key words to help them follow along.  Now she had very tricky question, which she almost would rather not ask at all, but it would be better to get it all out in the open.  "What exactly are you two planning?"

 

This time Korra and Asami had to pause as they spoke amongst themselves before they wrote out their own note.  It was as long as the last one, but it boiled down to "No plan.  See the world.  Find a way home".  Judith paused for a moment, then nodded her head.  Surely her superiors would have different ideas when she reported back, going back to the still-unsolved mystery of the investigation at the North Pole, but that would be for then.  Now, she helped break camp and they prepared to begin marching.

 

There was not a lot involved in 'breaking camp' at the moment, at least not much for her to do.  They had no equipment and no packs, so she made sure the fire was doused and they had collected everything they had (Primarily just their parkas, notepads, map and dictionary) in the carrying chest, then turned to watch Korra and Asami.  As she had expected there was still hundreds of pounds of meat left over that would have to be left behind, as they had no means of transporting or preserving it; Korra being strong enough to drag the bull as a whole was a far cry from transporting loose meat, especially meat that would drip, attract predators and spoil along the way.  It seemed like such a waste.  Korra, however, apparently had different ideas.  She had properly cut and cleaned the entire carcass, laying out the various cuts of meat, and then....the best way Judith could describe it was that she began to dance, with slow, circular motions.  As she danced, water began to draw up from the ground around her until it circled her in flowing ribbons; then, with rapid arm movements, the water ribbons engulfed the cuts of meat and instantly solidified into blocks of ice.  Once completed Korra and Asami began stacking the ice blocks, while Judith could only stare in gap-jawed amazement at another impossible feat, and quietly reaffirmed to herself that she was not going to antagonize them in any way.  After they had stacked the blocks on a small stone cart, they---wait, where had that cart come from?  It had not been there a few minutes ago, she was sure of it, but that meant...at that point Judith stopped her mind by sheer force of will.  She had seen so much that, at this point, the best method of her mental survival was to accept all, question nothing, and not to dwell.  They had a cart, so they would use the cart, and that was that.

 

With Korra pulling the cart (And how was _that_ possible?  With the mass of the meat, ice and the stone itself it had to weigh over a thousand pounds; Korra certainly looked strong, but nowhere near _that_ strong), Judith carried the small chest they had and Asami dragged the moose's skin, which Korra had stripped and stretched out on a branch latticework.  They got their bearings from the sun, turned south, and began marching.


	19. Chapter 19

After they had been walking for only an hour Korra began to feel....free.  The tightness that had been in her shoulders for so long that she had not even realized it was there began to slowly drain away and it felt like every breath came a little bit easier, and she realized that the past eleven days had worn on her harder than she had thought.  Had it only been eleven days?  With the endless daylight of the tundra it had felt like an eternity, and even the three days in that strange 加拿大 place----no, she focused and clarified--in that strange _Canadian_ place had seemed longer.  Being a prisoner, even if they had been well-treated, was different than her forced isolation in the South Pole White Lotus compound growing up and she had been stifled under that treatment regardless.  After being so used to freedom over the past four years she had felt squeezed into a small box, with Asami as her only air hole.  She had already begun to feel better yesterday after escaping from the airplane; now, though, with the forest lying open around them and no path before them, she began to feel like herself again.  Even the simple return of an actual **night** was refreshing, and she and Asami had both slept beautifully beneath the stars the night before.

 

"What are you smiling about?" Asami asked, but her voice was lighter as well.

 

"Just loving this feeling of being out here, of just walking.  We don't know where we're going or even where we are, and we don't know what we're going to do once we get there, but we're moving and we're seeing this brand new land.  It's like....back during the Hundred Year's War, before Aang defeated the Fire Lord.  He and all his friends spent a year just flying around the world; they weren't going anywhere, they were just _going_ , seeing what there was to see, helping people they came across.  It's so liberating."

 

Asami reflected that, a few years ago, Korra would have been tearing her hair out at such an aimless wandering, angrily wanting to get wherever they were going even faster so that she could begin 'doing something'.  "I'm just glad to be back where it makes even a little bit of sense, the way the sun never set was beginning to get to me."

 

"Me, too, and I was getting sick of the cold, too, which...y'know, isn't something I ever expected to be saying."

 

Asami laughed at that and nodded In agreement.  The South Pole they knew was certainly cold, but the land where they had arrived was cold in a way they had never experienced, and after their time walking outside and then being shut inside a bunker after their rescue they would both be happy to go a long time without seeing snow again.

 

"I wonder...Korra, you told me that at the Northern Spirit Portal there's a permanently thawed forest kept warm by the energy of the portal, right?  And that at other very spiritual places, even at the poles, it stays warm as well?"

 

"Yeah, at some of them you don't even need to wear furs to keep warm."

 

"I think by now we can say pretty definitely that there was no portal anywhere out there, and you're still not able to get into the Spirit World.  What if _that's_ why it was so cold out there?  With no Spirit Portal at all, and no other connections to the Spirit World, there was nothing to keep the air warm."

 

"That...that might actually be it.  The two worlds have always been connected, even after Avatar Wan closed the portals, and if there's no connection here....but Asami, that would mean we're not just at some place we've never been to before, we've left the world entirely.  This would have to be some kind of third world."

 

"I think it is, things are too different for any other explanation.  The people are strange, even the animals are different, and the sky....I looked at some of the stars last night and they were different, too.  Maybe the reason you can't get into the Spirit World is that there really _isn't_ a Spirit World here, you said that that was what it felt like to you.  Does anything else make sense?"

 

"No, nothing else does, but if this is true then I don't know how we'll ever get home.  We could be stuck here forever and...."  Korra did not know what to say after the 'and'.

 

"I know, but we haven't even really been looking for a way back, either.  Not like this.  You saw how big this land is, there's got to be somebody in _Canada_ who knows about traveling between the worlds that we can go to for help.  And until then...until then we'll be just like Avatar Aang and we'll travel and have adventures and it will be just like the vacation we were planning to have anyway."

 

Korra laughed at Asami's rather blatant attempt to cheer her up, but knowing what she was doing did not mean it did not work.  "Sounds like a plan to me.  We'll see everything there is in Canada, and then we'll go down to that land on the bottom of the map and see everything there, too."  Both smiling now, they turned their attention back to the forest around as they kept walking.

 

* * *

 

 

An hour later, as Korra was about to signal for a stop for lunch, off to their side Joo Dee said something which neither of them understood.  They turned to see her gesturing up to the sky, but neither could see anything that would have drawn her attention.  She did not seem angry or afraid, but she made the same motion again, and a moment later they noticed what had caught her attention: A distant sound that was almost certainly mechanical and seemed vaguely familiar....with a start, Korra and Asami recognized it as the same noise made by the flying machine that had rescued them from the tundra.

 

The search they had expected had found them.

 

Truthfully they had faintly hoped that it would not really be a problem, since without a plane crash there was no debris or damage to help guide the searchers to where they had landed, but apparently these people had better means of finding a location.  They might not know exactly where they were at the moment, but they clearly had an idea of the region to begin looking, and that raised a different, more immediate problem: What to do with Joo Dee.

 

She would tell her superiors everything she knew as soon as she returned, of that they had no doubt.  They did not hold that thought against her, she was a soldier and they would likely do the same in her position, especially with how important everybody seemed to think what had happened at the North Pole was.  The plan had been to leave her at the first village they came to after they had gotten out of the wilderness.  She could contact her people, and Korra and Asami would be far away by the time her reinforcements arrived to begin searching for them.  Now, though....if she made contact with a search team they would have dozens (Hundreds?  Thousands?) of soldiers combing the woods for them, using who-knew-what technology, and Asami and Korra might be found.  They still could not communicate well enough to calm the situation, if the situation _could_ be calmed, and they would have to fight their way out.  People would get hurt, maybe even themselves, and the search would be lengthened....a never-ending game of pygmy puma-and-elephant rat was not part of the plan.

 

"We can't let her communicate with them, not yet."  Asami's voice was flat, as if she hated saying the words, but there was also no doubt.

 

"No, not until we have a chance to get away before they could begin looking for us,"  Korra agreed.  They had clearly both gone through the same chains of logic and come to the same conclusion.  So too, it seemed, had Joo Dee, as while they were speaking she had begun to slowly back away into the surrounding forest, eyeing them warily.

 

"Stop."  Asami said it as gently as she could without making it a request, hoping to get across the meaning.  "We're not going to hurt you, but we can't let them know where we are.  We meant what we said, we are going to help you get out of here, just give us time.  Okay?"  She was walking a very fine line; she did not want to terrify Joo Dee (Joo Dee had only barely recovered from the emotional trauma the day before), but she also wanted it clear that they _would_ stop her if they had to.  It was a razor's edge, especially since they were still going off of tone and gestures.  At that moment, Asami resolved to begin actively learning the language right away.

 

Thankfully, the message seemed to get across and Joo Dee stopped her retreat.  They stood in tableau for a moment, not speaking or moving as the noise of the machine grew louder, and then Asami turned to Korra.  "We need a place to hide."

 

Nodding, Korra put down the cart and cleared away a small area of brush and leaves, then assumed an earthbending stance, deeply rooted and feeling into the earth.  She had never mastered the ability to see seismically, which the Beifong's seemed to perform effortlessly, but she could still tell that they stood atop packed rock and dirt, with no water below them for more space than she would need.  Nodding, she breathed in deeply and formed an image in her mind of the structure she would need to build--underground this time, but no less difficult than the ice domes she had erected before.  She again did not have time to erect it piecemeal or to make it sloppy, when she was done it had to look like there was nothing there at all.  Then, she stomped, twisted, and _pulled_ , and a square of dirt the size of a large room folded in on itself, leaving a depression in the ground large enough for even Joo Dee to stand upright and with a staircase leading down from the surface.  Quickly she and Asami began to lower their supplies into it, then turned to call Joo Dee forward.

 

Joo Dee came, but she again wore that expression of mingled terror and awe that she had sported the day before after the drop from the plane, and when she stepped down into the pit she stayed as far away from Korra as she could, pressing herself against the dirt side.  Korra noticed, but did not have time to regret that at the moment as she pulled in a cover over them, sealing off the sky and leaving them in darkness as black as pitch.  If she had done it properly it was the exact same dirt that had been level with the ground before, and should not have been distinguishable from the the area all around them.

 

She held up a small flame to make sure that Joo Dee did not panic and said "Don't worry, I'll get us some light in a moment".

 

Now that she had time to work she was able to focus and be a bit more precise.  She decided to tunnel several holes to let light in, but going straight up would have defeated the purpose, so she dug a small shaft, no larger than her fist, at an angle leading off one of the walls.  She kept the angle shallow, and had to stretch her earthbending to be able to reach the surface, but when she was done there was a tube connecting them to the surface almost fifty feet away, letting down fresh air and a dot of light.  She repeated her efforts on the other sides of their room, making sure that each tunnel was a different length and different angle so that, if their pursuers somehow noticed the tiny holes, none would line up exactly.

 

Then, they settled down to wait, and Asami turned to Joo Dee.

 

"I'd like to learn your language", she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that for a lot of the original series the Gaang actually did have specific destinations (Traveling to the Northern Water Tribe in Book One and various different points in the Earth Kingdom in Book Two), but we're at a 74 year remove and there was a lot of aimless wandering mixed in there, so let's cut Korra some slack for getting a detail wrong.


	20. Chapter 20

As Asami and Joo Dee discussed language, crowded beneath one of the air tunnels to make use of its light to read hand-written notes and the dictionary, Korra turned to the pelt she had collected from the....she believed Joo Dee called it a ' _moose_ '.  She had stretched it out to dry as they walked, planning to start to treat and work its skin when they stopped to make camp, but with them buried in darkness that plan would no longer work.  Truth be told, tanning and stripping was not something she had a lot of experience with.  Her mother had instructed her in the basics when she was a child, but growing up as the Avatar meant that she had never actually been forced to make her own clothing in the White Lotus compound, and since she had come to Republic City...she blushed as she remembered Asami taking her out clothes shopping for the first time.  Now, however, it meant that she could barely remember the instructions on how to brain the skin.  After a moment, she decided to do what she always did when she had a problem like this: She was the Avatar, she would cheat.

 

Scooping up a handful of loose dirt from the floor, she began to bend it to collect and clean off the underside of the skin; she moved it in a loose and flowing ribbon, almost waterbending.  As she ground the underside she worked up a small firebending to warm the skin, drying it as if it had been lying in the sun for days.  She worked steadily, letting her fingers feel the fur beneath her hands, and she smiled as she did.  Several of her teachers had said that there was joy to be found in the simpler efforts, and they had not been mistaken.  In the near-darkness of their hiding place she could not be sure of the exact passage of time, but hours must have passed, and Asami and Joo Dee's quiet murmuring was a constant backdrop that stopped only briefly when Korra melted one of their blocks and cooked them dinner.  Eventually, when her fingers grew too sore to move and it had to have been the depths of night, she stood up and touched the wall, closing her eyes (More symbolic than anything else, since there was no light at all coming into the cramped room now) and _feeling_.

 

"I don't think anybody's close by, but I have no idea if they've got any airships nearby.  I'm going to go for a quick look, I'll be back in a few minutes."

 

Before she left she took one of the branches she had strung together to make the lattice for the moose skin and lit one end, lowering the flame to a low smolder.  In the darkness it gave enough light to see each other by, and it should last for long enough for her to get back.  Their fingers brushed as she handed it to Asami, then she began tunneling sideways through one of the walls.  Going straight up would have revealed their location to anybody watching, hopefully if she put enough distance between her exit point and the room itself no connection would be made.  She slid through a gap barely wider than her shoulders, trying to displace as little dirt as possible and make no noise that could be recognized, and when she had gone far enough away she slowly began to step up.  The hole she opened was barely wide enough for her to climb out of, but she squeezed and pushed, and suddenly she was lying on the ground beneath the stars and she was completely alone.

 

Alone.  Now that she thought about it, she had not been alone for weeks.  She and Asami had been together for almost every single moment since they wound up on the ice; eating and sleeping and walking and talking together.  Their times in the bathroom were the only moments they were out of each other's eyesight and now.....now it was just her and the sky.  For a minute she just closed her eyes and laid on the grass, absorbing the isolation and letting her mind clear.  Then she stood up, dusted herself of, and looked around.

 

There was no sign of anybody else, for all Korra could tell she was the only person in the world.  No soldiers with strange weapons stalking through the undergrowth, no airships passing overhead, no lights shining in the distance, no sounds of machinery, just all of the ambiance of nature.  She closed her eyes again, relishing the peace and quiet, then clambered back down into the hole, sealing it behind her and crawling back towards where Asami and Joo Dee were waiting.  Back in the cavern she took burning branch back and extinguished it, holding up her own fire so that everybody could see one another.

 

"I don't think anybody was out there, I couldn't see or hear any people are machines.  Hopefully they've moved on.  We should be clear to continue walking tomorrow, and we should probably get to sleep now."

 

Asami nodded, and even Joo Dee nodded, although Korra guessed that was more just a general acknowledgement than a sign that she had learned to understand them after studying with Asami for a half a day.  As they had the day before they spread out their parkas for makeshift sleeping areas and laid themselves down, all hoping that the next day they would be able to make some significant progress.

 

Asami chose a spot opposite where Joo Dee was sleeping, wanting to give her as much space as she could, and waited for Korra.  They had slept beside each other, waking up with fingers intertwined more often than not, since their now seemingly-distant vacation in the Spirit World, but this time Korra did not simply lie beside her.  Instead, with the barest hesitation, Korra slowly pulled herself up against Asami, wrapping her in her arms and pulling her tight against her front.  Asami's eyed widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was died in her throat.  Slowly she turned onto her side as well, now face-to-face with Korra, and leaned forward until their foreheads were touching.  They stayed like for an eternity until Korra tilted to the side and rested her head against Asami's shoulder, breathing deeply, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

 

* * *

 

 

Judith Moon found herself waking up slowly, groggily, which was not how she usually came out of sleep, and when she opened her eyes she was confused at the darkness when her internal clock said it was the morning already.  Then she remembered where she was and she jerked to her feet, feeling around until she managed to trace the walls.

 

"Asami?  Korra?  Are you there?"

 

For a moment the panic began to well up within her as she thought that she had been left behind, buried alive in a dirt coffin, and she was about to start clawing at the walls when she heard a muffled noise from the other side of their bunker.  It was indistinct, the kind of noise that you made when you were half-asleep, and she realized that Korra and Asami simply had not awoken yet.  She was used to them already being awake when she rose, and relaxed when she realized that she had not been disposed of and left to rot in a cage where she would never be  found.  As she stood there she realized that light was streaming in through the holes in the wall again, and as she focused on where the mumbles were coming from she began to make out two forms sleeping....sleeping together, actually, and suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment (Which had not been a problem emotion so far, what the terror and shock and fear), she spun and faced the wall behind her.

 

"Hey!" She shouted, "Wake up.  It's time to get moving."

 

Behind her came all the normal sounds of two people clumsily getting up, and when she turned around again they were both on their feet and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.  Looking around they spoke briefly, as if reacquainting themselves with the situation, and then Korra turned to the wall and....and she _stepped into the wall_.  Judith knew that she had done something similar the night before, but the light from the smoldering branch had been too faint to make out any details, now she could see how Korra just seemed to move through the rock and dirt as if it were water.  In seconds she was gone, with just a small crack in the wall to mark her passage, and Judith was left alone with Asami.

 

She found herself relaxing almost at once, as she had yesterday in Asami's presence.  She had realized then that, to her knowledge, Asami had done none of the magical feats Korra had; no flying or conjuring fire or moving rocks with her mind.  She seemed to be completely normal.  That was not proven beyond any doubt (Judith remembered back to the sparring match she had watched between them three days ago, where Asami's aim seemed to have only been to _touch_ Korra instead of punching or kicking her; what if she had some sort of instant-death-touch ability?), but for the moment her presence was much less disconcerting than the creature Korra had become in her mind.  Perhaps sensing that she was at ease Asami turned to her and smiled (She was starting to notice that Asami had a very nice smile), and then said "Speak now, yes?"

 

Her accent was still almost comical, and it was nowhere near a completely sentence, but Judith had understood her, which was better than anybody had managed to accomplish in days.  Smiling in turn, she nodded and they sat beneath the light of one of the air holes again to continue rudimentary translations.  Judith was no language teacher, and she was under no illusions that she could convey any sort of fluency, but if they went back-and-forth enough over the most common words they might just be able to smash together enough jargon to hold a conversation.  They worked steadily, until the sound of shifting earth a half-hour later heralded Korra's return.  She stepped out of the wall coated in dirt and Judith had to fight the urge to shout and jump away at the otherworldly image, which looked like nothing so much as a golem come to life.

 

After a pause to orient herself, Korra simply clapped her hands together and the dirt leaped off her skin, as if obeying an order.  She turned to Asami and the two spoke quickly, too quickly for Judith to even attempt to follow, then Asami turned to her and tried to explain.  "No people.  Safe.  Now go".  Still far from perfect, but already it was better than spending half an hour flipping through the dictionary for individual words.  Nodding, she and Asami began to pack up what they had while Korra looked at the roof, stomped her feet, moved her arms, and the stone above them just slid to the side like the lip of a box.  Almost used to such displays by now, Judith was more stunned by the sudden brilliance that shone down from the sun which blinded her painfully for moments.  As her eyes struggled to adjust she clambered up the staircase Korra had created yesterday and savored the feel of the wind and sun against her skin.  She expected to Korra and Asami to come up right behind her, neither of them had enjoyed being buried any more than she had, but to her surprise they stayed down below for a few minutes and she faintly caught the sounds of cutting and tearing cloth (She also realized that Korra still had her combat knife.  She resolved to ask for that back at the soonest opportunity).  Just as she was about lean over the edge to see what was going on, and when her eyes had cleared enough for her to be able to see, Asami came up the staircase carrying the small chest which they used to carry their odds-and-ends, and Judith noticed that sticking out was an overshirt like the ones Korra and Asami had been given to wear back at Station Alert what almost seemed like a lifetime ago.  Since Asami was obviously still wearing hers that logically meant it must be Korra's, but why was Korra just wearing an undershirt?  She got her answer moments later when Korra walked up out of the pit, with the now cleaned and prepared moose pelt draped over her shoulders.  Since they did not have any sewing material the hide had not been turned into any kind of tailored shirt or tunic, instead a rude circle had been hacked out of the middle and it was worn over her head like a poncho.  But no matter how rude its preparation, at the sight of it Judith began to have an existential crisis.

 

She had wondered before if these two were even human given all that they could do, and now, with Korra standing before her draped in the skin of an animal she had killed either with her bare hands or with magic, after seeing her literally swim through solid earth and control the elements..... _was_ she human?  She seemed more like a creature of folklore, a spirit of the forest.  When they were younger, Tapeesa's grandmother would tell them both the myths and legends that she herself had heard as child, and many of them had included beings like this, with power and wisdom beyond humanity's own.  Judith had not paid particularly close attention, and neither had Tapeesa for that matter, but they had sat there politely and listened until they were allowed to go off on their own, and some information had sunk in.  Legends of Nujalik and Pinga, goddesses of hunting (Among other things), and other beings whose names she had forgotten.  Looking at Korra, standing there like the embodiment of those stories, like an avatar of the woods, was too much for her.  After everything over the past few days, all the insanity that started the second Korra had ripped open the side of an airplane with her bare hands, it was too much.  Before she knew it, she was on her knees, babbling almost incoherently, mixed prayers and curses and half-remembered Inuktitut words from her youth (Though those were mainly curses as well), and then she thankfully fell into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A "Golem" is a creature from Hebrew mythology, composed of clay and given life by magic to do the bidding of its creator (Imagine a Jewish version of the story of Frankenstein's monster, the stories almost inevitably end with it growing too powerful and needing to be destroyed). As you can probably tell by this reference and the Shema earlier in the story, she is Jewish. Well....actually, after what just happened, maybe not for much longer.
> 
> Thanks to everybody who's been commenting, knowing that you're reading this story (And wanting more) pushes me to keep writing.


	21. Chapter 21

"You know, if we keep needing to stop like this we're never going to get _anywhere_."  Asami's voice was artificially light, but the concern was evident regardless and even her attempt at humor belied her fear.  They had stretched Joo Dee out flat and now Korra kneeled in front of her, again running her hands over her as she worked with the chi energy that had gotten so twisted and blocked within her body, while Joo Dee continued to shiver and moan beneath Korra's ministrations.  Korra did not respond, so focused on the work, and Asami twisted her hands together.  They had tried this immediately after escaping the plane, and again yesterday before they began their trek, but Korra could only do so much; she could move around the body's energy and massage its chakras, but this was not a physical wound to be patched up or forced back into place.  After another half-hour Korra gasped and fell back onto her haunches, and the water she had collected dropped back down to the ground.  Before her, Joo Dee's cries had faded to silence, and now she seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

 

"That's it, that's the best I can do."  Her voice was exhausted, almost more tired than any time Asami could recall hearing it, and she looked as tired as she had when Asami saw her walk out of the new Republic City Spirit Portal with Kuvira.  "This is bad, Asami, very bad.  I've never tried to heal anything like this before, her chi is _roaring_ , but it's so blocked that it can't go anywhere.  It's almost like..." her voice caught, the barest hitch "...it's like how I felt when I was recovering at the South Pole after Zaheer.  So much pain, but it's not from the body.  Even Katara couldn't heal me by herself, and she's a better healer than I'll ever be.  I don't think I can fix this."  She moved to stand up, but her trembling limbs could barely lift her and she found herself sitting all over again.  "Whoa...when we get back remind me to ask Katara how she managed to stay standing during those sessions, I feel like I could sleep for days."

 

"Here, let me help you," and Asami helped Korra stand and shuffle over to the fire they had built before she began to try the healing.  It was a good thing they had started the fire first, because right now Korra did not feel like she could have lit a blade of straw on fire.    As she settled to the ground before the fire Asami pressed a cup of steaming water and cooked venison into her hands; it could not properly be called 'stew', but Korra inhaled it like it was the finest dish she had ever eaten.  "Is she in danger?"

 

"No...actually, yes, she is.  Her body isn't going to quit this very second, but this isn't going to go away.  I'm not sure if she's going to wake up on her own, and if she does and this isn't dealt with....I almost didn't come back, Asami.  I had my parents and Katara with me at the South Pole, and Mako and Bolin, and I had....I had you waiting for me, and with all that I _still_ almost didn't come back.  If she wakes up and it's just us, and we're _causing_ this....we need to get her out of here, soon, or she won't ever get out of this forest even if her body does."  She laughed, a quiet, rueful laugh that might have held a glimmer of true humor, but only if you really dug down into it.  "We should have let them find her last night, we could have....oh, spirits, it's so obvious....why didn't we just wait until she was sleeping then leave her where they would have found her?  Or just tied her up right in their path?   We could have been miles away by the time they got any information from her, and she wouldn't be like this and...."  Now her laugh was half a sob.

 

Asami did not say anything, but just knelt down next to Korra and held her tight, resting Korra's head on her chest and stroking her hair as they watched the fire flicker.  That Korra cared so much about a woman that was almost an enemy was part of why Asami loved her, part of the strength and beauty that made Korra who she was.  It was what had allowed Korra to ultimately triumph over Kuvira, not just defeat her, and it was exactly what was needed in an Avatar.  But at times like this, where all they could do was watch, Asami knew that it ate at her more than anything else.

 

"What do you want to do?"

 

" _Want_ to do?  What I want to do right now is go home and leave this entire strange world behind, but what we're _going_ to do....I've got an idea."  When Korra did not continue, Asami gently shook her to get her mind unstuck.  "We need to get her to a healer, maybe this place has ways of helping that we know nothing about, and we need get her out of this entire situation.  So, we've got to signal the military.  They were searching here yesterday, they must still be close by and I should be able to find them if we whip together a glider.  I'll bring Joo Dee over to them and hopefully they can help her.  Then I'll....I'll deal with whatever happens next."

 

Asami took note of the pronouns Korra had chosen; 'I', not 'we'.  It could have been a simple slip of the tongue, but she knew it was deliberate.  " **We'll** deal with whatever happens next."  She stressed perhaps a bit more than she had to to get the point across, but she wanted it clear exactly where she stood.

 

Korra was silent for a minute, then she reached up to grab Asami's hand that had been stroking her hair.  Softly, she said "I love you, Asami" and she kissed the back of her palm and let herself sink into the embrace.

 

Asami's breath caught in her throat.  The past few weeks with Korra had seemed like the culmination of all of her hopes and desires, ever since they had spoken at Varrick's wedding, and she knew how much Korra meant to her, but to hear the words said out loud, with all that they implied and represented and meant and signified... _everything_....she tilted her head down and lightly pressed her lips to the top of Korra's head, just barely enough to be called a kiss.  "I love you, too."

 

* * *

 

 

Making a functioning glider, ironically, turned out to be the hardest task they had faced so far in the forest.  None of their clothing was suited to serve as gliding material, most of the trees around them produced wood too heavy for a staff, and they had no tools or sealants to work with.  With enough time they likely could have made do (Korra maintained that if they had a week Asami would have them traveling in a new satomobile), but time was the very problem, so they eventually relied on a brute force approach which would have had Tenzin turning red.  Instead of a standard glider they stretched the moose pelt over a rectangular frame they had notched together with a strap dangling down made of one of their parkas.  It could not glide by any definition of the term, but it could catch the air, and if Korra airbent correctly it could float straight up and come back down gently enough for her to not kill herself.  It would be continuous work going up and down, it was not a parachute, and it would not provide much speed or lateral movement, but it would allow her to get a great view of the area and possibly assist in being spotted.

 

By the time they finished it was the early afternoon, their third day in the forest after the crash and the previous day spent mainly hiding in the bunker.  Joo Dee continued to sleep fitfully, but Korra and Asami had eaten their fill and done their best to feed her the broth they had.  Before it got dark, and before the searchers got any further away, Korra quickly kissed Asami good bye, held up her reverse-parachute, and bounded into the air.

 

At first she was ecstatic at being airborne again at all, flying had never lost its primal thrill, but the cumbersome contraption she was holding on to made it more of an ordeal than a pleasure.  She slowly floated up, bobbing in the wind, and looked around frantically for any sign of the searchers they had heard the night before.  As far as she could see there was nothing, just more forest and small hills, no sign of habitation at all.  She listened for the noise of those strange flying machines, but there was nothing but the odd bird call and noise from below.  Inevitably, she began to descend and wound up only a short walk from where she had left Asami and Joo Dee.  She went up again, this time with a stringer gust to keep her up longer, but still saw nothing.  After her third trip she began to grow tired; this was brute force airbending, lifting herself up by sheer strength, and airbending was not **about** strength.  After the fourth trip she had to rest; just like healing earlier in the day it was a constant strain, and she did not have a bottomless well of energy to maintain it forever.  She sat down in their camp, cooked another section of venison (She was very glad they had a sufficient supply of food, but she was starting to wish they had a little more variety), and allowed herself to be lost in the warmth of Asami's body against hers.

 

After her strength restored she began bounding again, but she noticed that the sun was already lowering, and would likely begin to set within the hour.  The odds of spotting anybody at night were even remoter than they already were, and the odds of her breaking her own neck on landing in the dark were much larger, so she began to put more and more into her airbending, hoping to stay up just a little bit longer.

 

"The light's almost gone, if you don't spot somebody this next jump I want you to stop for the night.  You won't do Joo Dee any favors by hurting yourself."

 

Korra just grunted in acknowledgement, tired and frustrated over the wasted day.  She had already decided that, if she did not attract help today, she would begin moving tomorrow.  There would be extremely limited control over their shoddy contraption, and she would be at the whims of any particularly strong gust of wind, _and_ she would likely not be able to guide it precisely enough to get back, but if she just kept wasting time she feared that Joo Dee would not survive, so she was willing to do anything.

 

Inevitably, of course, on her next and last bound of the day, she caught the distant sounds of the same flying machine that they had heard before.


	22. Chapter 22

 The flying machine looked different from the one that had rescued them, although Asami figured part of that was because this one did not need to be prepared to fly in the frozen conditions the other one had (She still remembered the frustrations of modifying the standard bi-plane design so it could work reliably at the North and South Poles).  It was smaller and looked lighter in general, with a lot more glass  and openings, and she could feel her fingers almost _itching_ to open the engines and see how it worked.  She had been near unconsciousness when she saw the other one, and now she could look it over and pick out all the details she could observe.  She assumed that the smaller propeller on the back tail was intended to compensate for the rotation of the main one above, but how were they controlled?  What kind of speed did it have, or range?  What fuel did it use?  Was there a reason it was almost completely yellow?  Almost more than anything else at the moment, she wished for her workshop and an hour of uninterrupted time to play around with it.  _Almost_ more than anything else, as a whimper from Joo Dee drew her attention back to the present.

 

She took a rag made from the remnants of the parka that had provided Korra with her hanging strap and dipped it in one of the buckets of water Korra had prepared (Until now Asami had never thought about just _how useful_ having the Avatar along could be).  Gently, she ran it over Joo Dee's forehead; she was not sure, but it felt like a fever was beginning.  Korra was right, she needed to get to a healer, and soon, and hopefully they could make that happen now.

 

In a clearing a few hundred feet away, the closest open space large enough for the machine to land, she heard it touch down, then the shuffle and crash of Korra leading its pilot over to where they were.  Asami looked up and took him in at a glance, a little surprised at his appearance.  He was not in the uniform that Joo Dee and all the other soldiers had worn, nor would she have classified his clothing as a uniform at all, its style looked more like what everybody _else_ had worn at the base.  He was also old, older than she would have expected a rescue flier to be; she guessed above sixty.  Also...now Asami realized that his machine was the _only_ flying machine they had heard, and there was apparently no ground searchers in the area, either.  Where was everybody else?  They could not have abandoned the search already, could they?  Regardless, he was here now, and Asami was grateful.  Waving excitedly, she drew him over to where she was caring for Joo Dee.

 

She saw his eyes widen as he took in the situation, and she also saw his confusion as he looked around at the bizarre makeup of their camp.  He tried to say something, but Asami's shoulders fell as she realized that he was not speaking the language she had been learning from Joo Dee - ' _English_ ' she had called it.  Instead, he was speaking the other language she had heard at the base, which did not seem to be as prevalent as _English_ , and which was still completely unknown to her.  When he saw her expression he paused for a moment, as if thinking something over, then started speaking again.  He spoke too rapidly for her to understand, and used words that she did not know, but this time it _was_ English.  Quickly, she recited the one complete sentence she had made sure to memorize by rote the previous night.

 

"I'm sorry, my friend and I do not speak English, but I am trying to learn.  Please speak slowly and clearly."

 

He gave her another confused look, but then Joo Doo moaned again and he dashed to her side.  Asami had spent the day thinking up what they would say when they were found, and now let out what she had worked up, broken and isolated words that she hoped would get their meaning across.  "Hurt.  Help.  Please."  The man looked even more confused than before, then leaned down to pull something out from under Joo Dee's shirt, a metal chain wrapped around her neck with some sort of pendant on it.  He read the writing on it, then looked back to Asami.  "Please" she said again.  After a moment's hesitation the man held up his hands - clearly a 'wait here' gesture - and ran back to his flying machine.  Or rather, he walked quickly, since running through the woods as night fell was a good way to give yourself a broken ankle.  Korra went with him, and Asami was left alone with Joo Dee again, doing what she could to ease her suffering.

 

A few minutes later Korra walked back over and sat down next to Asami, and Asami could see that the tenseness she had displayed all day was already somewhat abated.  Not completely, not yet, but a little.

 

"He has a radio, and I think he's calling for help; there's no space to lie her down in his airship and I don't want to squeeze her into the storage compartment."

 

"Probably a good idea, the other searchers must be nearby, they should be here soon.  What....what do you want to do after they get here?"

 

Korra was quiet for a moment, then spoke almost hopefully, "I don't think he's part of the search, he was completely surprised to find us here.  His flying machine doesn't look at all like the other one, or any of the equipment they had at the base.  He's probably somebody who was just out enjoying flying.  I don't think there _is_ a search, for whatever reason.  At least, not here."

 

"No search?  Then..."  Asami did not need to spell it out, but if there were no soldiers coming then they could fade right back into the forest after the help got here.  No need to either let themselves be taken prisoner or fight their way out.  Or maybe they could go _with_ the rescuers, fly with them back to the city they came from.  Asami was not at home out in the wilds, and even though it was far from being actively unpleasant, she ached to return to the life of a city.  Or, wait...did this world even  _have_ cities?  Once again she realized just how little she and Korra actually knew about this place.

 

"I know.  Just think, in a few minutes we'll be alone again, and..."  Korra trailed off, and Asami found herself blushing at the way she had said 'alone'.  They had been alone together countless times before, but with the memory of the night before, when Korra had curled up against her and held her so tightly....suddenly, Asami was not sure whether she wanted the rescue to take them out of the forest along with Joo Dee or leave them here.

 

The crushing noises of the man returning broke them out of their reverie, and he reappeared from the forest around them, sinking to the ground with a heavy sigh, but he smiled to signify good news.  He spoke rapidly, but when he realized that they had not understood him he stopped and spoke again.  "Help.  Soon."  They were two simple words, but a smile blossomed on Asami's face, and Korra's as well once she translated.  She dashed over to hug him, and then he had a very different kind of smile on his face, but Asami just laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

 

Now, all they had to do was wait, and as she settled down Asami realized that it had been hours since she and Korra eaten.  They had left one of their ice blocks next to the fire and it had nearly melted, so they skewered the meat and let it roast, offering their new friend his own share.  Then, realizing that they could not keep calling him 'man', Asami said "Name?", hoping she had gotten that one correctly.  He nodded and pointed to his own chest, saying something which sounded like 'Huan'.  Pointing to them he repeated the term, and Asami gave her own and Korra's name.  Smiling, he accepted the slice of venison, and the three of them ate amiably side by side.

 

* * *

 

 

Clearly this new world had a very different concept of the meaning of 'soon', and Korra growled under her breath as their wait for rescue stretched out to more than an hour.  Huan did not seem anxious or worried, so he probably expected such a delay, and he also seemed genuinely friendly, so Korra did not worry that he was trying to delay them while a trap was sprung, but....Joo Dee still had not awoken, and despite their best efforts to keep her drinking water and some broth neither she nor Asami were trained in caring for somebody unconscious like this.  Now that night had fallen in earnest they moved her closer to the fire for warmth and kept her bundled in the parkas they had left, and all they could do after that was wait.  The tension which had begun to leave her after she had attracted the flying machine was slowly creeping back.

 

Asami and Huan, however, seemed perfectly content just to wait for the rescue Huan said was coming, and she forced herself not to fidget.  It would get here when it got here, her carrying on would help at all.  Determined to relax she crossed her legs and closed her eyes to begin meditating, and of course they all heard the sound of another flying machine right then.  Jumping up, Huan began ambling towards his own machine and Korra went with him, partly out of concern; he was moving noticeably slower than he had just an hour ago, and she again wondered what he was doing out here.  Still, while he might have been old he was not decrepit, and he got back to his machine without trouble, picking up the radio and speaking to whoever it was that was coming.  They had returned to that other language by now, so not even the extreme generalities of English that she had picked up could help Korra, but their conversation was professional and friendly, so she relaxed as they spoke.  Soon, the noise of this machine was almost directly overhead, and Korra rushed back to the campsite to help.

 

One look at the flying craft told Korra that she and Asami could not go with Joo Dee back to wherever it came from.  They still could not read any of the markings along its side, but this was clearly a military craft of some kind.  Huan's machine looked personal, like the satomobiles Asami maintained with her own hands, but this was a much larger, heavier craft, and looking up she could see that the crew within it wore uniforms.  None of them seemed armed or threatening, but that they were part of the same organization which Joo Dee worked for could not be doubted, and surely once they learned who they were helping the entire situation would change.  So, once they had helped Joo Dee, she and Asami would need to disappear as quickly as they could.  But first, they _would_ help Joo Dee.

 

Several ropes fell down from the machine, and suddenly the people inside were rapidly descending to the ground, carrying enough equipment that Korra hoped they could help.  Asami waved them over to where Joo Dee was and, after they realized that neither she nor Korra could explain what had happened, they began to examine her themselves.  Their ministrations looked rough to Korra, who wanted to shove them aside and show them how to properly minster to a patient, but she realized that without waterbending they could not just work with the internal energy of the body and she took hold of herself.  They felt and measured and touched her with who-knew-what, then began speaking back and forth, and presumably up to the people still overhead.  Huan had returned by then and he spoke to them, likely explaining what little he knew, and they turned back to Joo Dee.  After a few minutes, which felt like hours, they assembled what looked like a solid bed and lifted Joo Dee onto it, then connected it to the cables to be drawn up to the machine and....and she was inside the machine, and Korra took what felt like her first breath in days.  Whatever happened now she would be out of the forest, back among her own people, and hopefully getting help.

 

Turning to Asami, Korra quietly said "It's time."  They walked over to Huan and both hugged him tightly, which got him to grin even wider than he had when Asami had kissed him earlier in the day, then passed him two notes that they had written while waiting for the rescue.  They said his name as they handed him the first, to indicate that it was for him, then said "Joo Dee" as they passed him the second.  They said it again, pointing at the flying machine, and he nodded.  Then, when he turned back to watch some of the crew come back down on the still-hanging cables, they grabbed the supplies they could get hold of unobtrusively and stepped out of the firelight.


	23. Chapter 23

Traveling through an unfamiliar woods at night is much more difficult than it might at first appear, even with Korra holding aloft a small flame to light the way.  The shifting shadows cast by the fire almost made it harder to see where they were going, and they were constantly stumbling over overgrown roots and tripping in small depressions.  However, they kept pushing forward, looking to put as much distance between themselves and their previous campsite as they could.  They did not understand why there had not already been a thorough search combing the forest for them, but neither doubted that with the return of Joo Dee they _would_ be followed now.  So, they marched deep into the night, not speaking except for minor words of encouragement and grunts of exertion, until the sky began to brighten in the east.  Optimally they would have kept going even longer, but at that point they needed to rest; not just from the hike itself, but all the exertions of the day before that they had not recovered from.  With mingled sighs and groans they shuffled to a halt and sank to the ground, wrapping themselves up together in the pelt, which was one of the few things they had managed to grab before leaving their camp.  Korra was about to make a joke about how useful this one item was turning out to be, but between opening her mouth and starting to speak her head fell to the side and she and Asami slept the deep, undisturbed sleep of the truly exhausted.

 

When she awoke later, Korra smacked her head on what felt like a solid slab of rock as she sat up.  When she opened her eyes a moment later, the pounding ache in her head making her wish she had done that first, she saw what looked like a sheet of earth above her and Asami's sleeping forms.  She had absolutely no memory of erecting an earth tent like this before falling asleep, but as tired as she had been she did not find her lack of recollection very surprising, and now that she thought about it it made sense.  From above it probably looked like any other bit of earth around them, and the flying machines might go right by without noticing anything.  It might not do much to confuse somebody on the ground, but so far they had not seen _anybody_ walking around this forest, and it looked a lot easier and less claustrophobic than the buried bunker she had made before.  Grinning, she turned her head to say something to Asami, and felt her breath catch in her throat.

 

Asami was there, _right_ there, so close that she could have kissed her without even moving her head.  They were intertwined, sleeping in the same fur, and Korra found herself lost just staring her.  They had not showered for days, they were covered in the grime and pulp of trees, and their clothes were in tatters, but Asami looked beautiful, and for the first time Korra felt a desire beginning to build within her from the proximity.  When they had been trapped on the ice, every moment had them only inches away from death; after they had been rescued they had been watched constantly; after they had escaped, Joo Dee had been with them.  Now....Korra was suddenly painfully aware that they were completely alone, nobody for miles, and Asami's body pressed against hers, their legs caught up together.  She felt her blood begin to rush and her breath come heavy as she took in she sheer physical presence beside her.  They had spoken, and they had kissed, and slept beside each other, but now Korra felt a passionate yearning and....she slowly disentangled herself from Asami's form, doing her best not to wake her, and slid out from beneath the earth tent over to what meagre supplies they retained.  They were still lost in the woods in a world they did not understand, there would be time for that later.

 

What they had left was not much, but then they had not had much to start with.  Laying it out side-by-side, there was Joo Dee's knife, the map, the dictionary, the note pads, the pelt she had so painstakingly treated yesterday, a few pieces of cooked venison,  and finally the very clothes they were wearing.  Not much, but maybe enough.  Especially, she thought with a touch of smugness, with the Avatar there to take care of the elements.  Speaking of....

 

Bending as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Asami, Korra began to form another small collection of stone cups and bowls for them to use, then filled them with water.  She drew the water up from the ground as Katara had shown her to do so many years ago; water was everywhere, in the ground and plants and very air itself, and with enough patience it could be collected and used, drawn together from all its disparate sources.  When she had filled the cups, then drunk one herself and re-filled it, she became aware of the feeling of eyes upon her and turned to see Asami watching, smiling.

 

"I didn't want to interrupt, I just like watching you work.  The way you move when you're waterbending is so smooth, so clear...let me have a sip of that."  And Asami grabbed one of the cups herself, closing her eyes and relishing the clean, cool taste.  "You make the best water."

 

Korra could not help but laugh and took another drink herself.  "Why thank you, I do aim to please.  When we have time I'll show my hot water specialty, it will knock your socks off" and they both laughed together.  As they laughed it was like the tension of the past few days oozed out of them along with their breath, and they sat down for breakfast (Although it was likely well into the afternoon already judging by the sun).  They chewed the last of venison they had, drank the clear water, and considered what to do next.

 

"I think we should keep heading south," Asami said, "Joo Dee said there are very few people this far north, and if we turn around we're just going to begin freezing again."

 

"Makes sense to me, it would be nice to get out of this forest for a change and we could see what this new world is actually like.  We've been here for two weeks now and all we've seen is ice, a military base, and these trees, I wonder what their cities are like?"  Korra's voice was almost longing, and Asami figured she must have sounded something like that before she first came to Republic City.

 

"Huan had his own private aircraft, do you think everybody flies here?"  There was no 'almost' to Asami's longing, the thought of everybody having their own aircraft had her eyes almost sparkling.

 

Korra was not immune to the wonder, either, after what they had already seen.  "They might, and they had that talking picture telephone back at the base, I wonder if those are everywhere?  Imagine that, everybody flying around, talking to somebody else miles away as if they were right in front of you...although, if we had that back home Ryu would probably fly right into a building," and they both laughed again.

 

When they had finished eating Asami began to gather wood for a fire and Korra walked off to collect their food; fruit if she could find it, hunting if she came across any game.  They would stock up today and likely sleep here again tonight, then begin marching tomorrow.  Hopefully, in a few days they would find some other people, or maybe a road or waterway, and reach civilization to begin seeing what was _out there_.  Then...then they would see the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everybody who's wondering, sadly yes, Lieutenant Judith Moon is out of the story for now, but don't worry, she's not gone forever. I've already got plans for her return, but it's going to take a while and it won't be for many, many chapters...which, at the rate I seem to be going, might be later tonight for all I know.
> 
> I love reading all of your comments, every time time I see a note that there's a new one I *ding* a little bit.


	24. Chapter 24

For the first time weeks, Korra and Asami awoke to absolutely nothing strange, unusual, dangerous or daunting before them.  As they slid out from the earth tent, they reflected that there was _nothing_ pressing (At least, not beyond their basic survival in this strange world).  Joo Dee had been returned to her people, they had detected no sign that the searching Canadians were closing in on their location, and even their food stores had been bolstered the day before by Korra felling a pair of four-legged animals, smaller than the moose but likewise antlered, and with white tails.  Not since they left their vacation in the Spirit World had a day started quite so mundanely, or with so few surprises.  They cooked their breakfast, preserved the remainder of their food for their trip, and began the long, arduous journey south.  Korra had again constructed a small stone cart on which they loaded their food and the supplies they had, including a small bundle of firewood and the two new skins, and with her earthbending to move it smoothly through the forest their progress was almost as rapid as if they had been unburdened.  Without the fear of pursuit, or imminent danger from the environment, or hostile companions, it felt like they might have been back in the Spirit World after all.

 

"Korra?"  Asami's voice was as light as their moods.

 

"Hmmm?"

 

"Why have you been skinning all of the animals you've hunted?  The moose pelt has certainly proven useful," she nodded to where it lay rolled up in the cart, now serving as their blanket after having spent barely an hour as Korra's garment before becoming a ballooning asset, "but do you really think we'll need these new pelts as well?"

 

"One of the basic rules of survival in the wild is to not waste anything if you can avoid it.  We don't need them now, but what if we need bags to carry something?  Or if the weather turns cold again, who knows how the seasons work here?  You never know what might come up tomorrow, or the day after, so you hold on to everything you can.  Plus..." and she averted her eyes slightly, as if nervous about admitting the next part, "...I don't like the feel of these clothes."

 

"What's wrong with them, they're sturdy enough....although I certainly wouldn't complain about a new set or getting to properly wash these."  She made an exaggerated show of smelling her shirt and recoiling, which got a laugh out of Korra.  How many people would Asami have done that in front of?

 

"There's nothing _wrong_ with them, but I'm used to the feel of fur against my skin.  Back home if you didn't have a thick coat on it meant you were either inside by a fire, or in very big trouble.  Even after I left the South Pole it felt right to keep wearing my furs."  Now she smiled.  "Remember when you took me shopping for the first time?  I kept sending everything away until you found that tailor who had grown up in the Northern Water Tribe?  It wasn't just fashion tradition, I didn't feel right wearing only silk.  To be out here, walking in the open, in just these flimsy shreds I feel almost naked."

 

"There's more, isn't there?  I know you've always preferred to keep with the Water Tribe style, but you never looked really uncomfortable in something else."

 

"Well.....it's also that now it **is** a matter of tradition.  My parents and the White Lotus taught me everything I needed to know about surviving when I was a kid, but I never had to use most of it at the compound.  Now that I'm finally using it, the hunting skills that my father learned from his father and the survival training from my mother, I feel like it's important that I...that I honor them.  They wear their furs to survive, and so should I."

 

Korra was hesitant to say this, unsure of how Asami might react.  She had never looked down on Korra before, never condescended to Korra's tribal origin even when exposing her to the modern world, but something like this seemed so...petty.  Pure sentimentality, justified only by 'tradition', and Asami had never been one to be concerned overmuch with tradition.  What if she thought that it was pointless, especially now when they had more pressing matters?  Korra was not so panicked as to think that Asami would suddenly reject her over something so minor,  Asami was too sweet to do something that obtuse even over something more serious, but what if she just rolled her eyes?  What if this was the first of many small things that showed they were from worlds which were too different, despite everything else that drew them together?

 

"Well then, we have a problem."

 

Korra's stomach tried to drop right to the ground, but she grabbed it before it reached her feet and held onto it.  "Oh?"

 

"Yeah, we don't have any sewing materials, and we'll need to tailor them together since these pelts are way too small for you to just throw over your shoulders like the other one.  We're going to have to work on that, especially when I get mine."

 

Now Korra's stomach seemed to be trying to rush up in the opposite direction and she wondered why it could not just decide to stay where it was supposed to be.  "Yours?"

 

"Of course.  Tonraq and Senna's lessons have saved my life right along with you, I can't very well ignore them, can I?  Besides, we'll need replacement clothing eventually no matter what, and I for one have no intention of walking around half-naked with a pelt dragging the ground behind me.  You're going to be the best dressed woman in this wilderness, and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't try to keep up?"

 

Korra was silent for a moment, unaware even that she had stopped walking and was staring at Asami, then dashed over to her and pulled her into a kiss.  This was not one of the warm, tender kisses with which they greeted the day, nor was it one of the slow, quiet kisses that they said farewell to the evening with.  This was so passionate, so intense, that it rivalled the one they had shared as they plummeted to the ground after escaping from the airplane days ago.  For minutes they were locked together, wrapped within each other's arms, and when they finally broke apart they were both panting heavily, taking in deep gulps of breath to keep themselves steady.

 

"You, Asami Sato, are a singular woman in all the world....in _all_ the worlds, and I would not be complete without you by my side."

 

Asami did not respond, but simply pulled Korra close again.  Korra understood her anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the curious, the animals that Korra hunted were a pair of White-tailed deer, native to much of the Americas and found in the southern stretches of Canada.
> 
> There is also a clue in there for stuff that won't actually be discussed for many chapters yet, but will explain some (small) things that might have you scratching your head. Or it might not, maybe you don't have any head itches, I don't know, we haven't grown close enough for me to be able to detect how your scalp feels today. Maybe if we spent more time together?


	25. Chapter 25

As Asami woke up the next morning, drowsily stirring at the first bird song, she paused just to appreciate the feel of Korra's skin against hers.  She wondered how she had ever survived waking up without her warmth, the days of when they had simply unrolled their sleeping mats side-by-side already seemed like a distant past.  Grinning, she reached up to run her hand through Korra's hair, enjoying the feel of it as it ran through her fingers--and then her fingers got caught in a tangled knot that jerked Korra awake when she tried to pull herself free.

 

"Oww!  What the----Asami, what are you doing!?!"

 

"I'm sorry, I was just...." Asami started to laugh, "...I was just brushing your hair and I got stuck."

 

"You got..you got  _stuck_?"  The shock of being so rudely awakened was fading, and  Korra began to laugh as well.  "You got stuck..in my hair.  You've broken out of military captivity, and you were stuck in my  _hair_?  The Earth Queen's guards couldn't stop you, but my hair trapped you?"  Now she could barely speak, and for five minutes they both just lay there, gasping for air, set off to new fits of laughter each time they looked at each other.  "We know what to do if we're ever captured again, trick the guards into my hair and we're free!"

 

"Stop, stop, I need to breathe!"  Tears were streaming down Asami's face and she was doubled over on her side, taking big gulping breaths between giggles.  As they wound down, Asami reached out and again began to run her fingers through Korra's hair--albeit a little bit more cautiously this time.  "I just wanted to feel a little bit more of you before we got up for the day."

 

Kora felt her face warming, "Thanks, but I think it's time we both actually took a bath, unless we want to spend the day with you attached to my head."

 

"I wouldn't mind" Asami began to say, but then her fingers got caught again and she nearly descended back into fits, "Okay, maybe we do need to clean up a bit."

 

Disentangling themselves, they prepared for the day and began their march, with Korra leading them towards where her senses said there was flowing water.  After barely an hour, they came to a small stream and sat down to take care of all the personal care and maintenance that had been sadly neglected during their trek through the woods.  The pelts Korra had collected were rinsed and laid out to dry, and their clothing, which was grimy and marked from the world around them, was washed as best they could.  Then Asami stepped into the stream herself to bathe and---when Korra looked up from the new pelts that she was working with she felt her breath leave her in a rush and refuse to return.  With a choked sound that was almost a cry she turned aside, and determinedly looked down at the pelt in her hand, focusing on the work as she felt her blood begin to rise. Asami had been....well, she  ** _was._** Shining in the sun, standing in the sparkling water, it was like...it was like when Korra had first seen the Republic City skyline lit up at night, standing out bright against the sky.  The magic she had felt then was the same she felt now, and even with her head buried she could not keep herself from angling a little bit to catch a glimpse from the corner of her eye and....Asami stood tall, her body taught and free in the air, and with what was almost a shriek Korra turned completely around and focused on breathing. **  
**

"Korra?  Are you okay?"

 

"I'm fine!  I'm fine!  I just didn't expect to see...uh....it's all fine!  I'm just working on this new pelt!  It should be ready in a few hours!"  Her voice was breathless, almost frantic, and Asami was about to walk over to her to see what was wrong when she realized that she was naked and...now it was Asami's turn to blush, and she turned to the side even though Korra already had her back to her.

 

"Okay, just...just let me know when you're done with the pelt."  And she returned to her bath with flushed cheeks, eyes constantly darting to where Korra sat with her back to her.

 

An hour later they were both cleaned, dressed and refreshed, and it was amazing how much better you could feel after all the sweat and dirt and detritus was swept away.  They might have just been out for an afternoon trip into the spirit wilds, instead of being stranded, and they resumed their southern progress with lighthearted steps.

 

* * *

 

That night, after they had settled down to camp after sunset, Korra and Asami lay side-by-side in the light of the fire and looked upwards.  Korra had not erected their tent, and likely would not until they were ready to actually go to sleep, so they were able to bask in the starlight and listen to the world around them.

 

Quietly, Asami began, "Korra, about what happened earlier today..."

 

"What happened earlier today?"  Korra's response was  _almost_ nonchalant enough, but the very blasé attitude she tried to affect told that she was trying very hard to hold her thoughts in.

 

"When we were bathing at the river and..."

 

"What, that?  That was nothing, we've changed together a hundred times and...uh...I was just surprised is all."  Now Asami could hear the emotion underneath the words, and she knew that if they had enough light to see by that Korra would have flushed darkly.

 

"I know we've changed together before, but things are different now and...and we're not rushing right now or in danger right now and...." Asami did not know what to say, did not know if she  _should_ say anything, and she did not even know why she was so nervous when they had already shared so much together, but she had to barrel ahead "...and I want you to know that I want us to be  **everything** together.  This is new for me, too, I've never felt like this with anybody, never  **been** like this with anybody, but I'm with you, just like you are with me, and you never need to turn away from me.  Whatever happens, you  _never_ need to turn away from me."

 

Korra did not respond right away, just stared up at the stars above, before she turned her head to look at Asami.  Her words were almost too quiet to hear, but Asami did not imagine that she could have possibly missed them, they brimmed with so much emotion. "I never want to turn away from you."  And even though this must have been the tenth time they had spoken about what they meant to each other, and even though it seemed like there could not possibly have been anything else between them to separate them, there was again that bright light, that light which seemed to fill the universe, as another wall tumbled down.

 

They did not throw themselves at each other in passion--even with the refreshing sensation of cleanliness they were still exhausted from the difficult hike of the day--but they drew themselves to one another and just took solace in each other's arms, and when Korra finally did erect the stone tent above their heads Asami did not care at all, because they had all the light they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do believe we have passed the 40,000 word mark with this one, chapter #25.
> 
> Are anybody else's fingers bleeding?


	26. Chapter 26

It had been nearly a week since they had sent Joo Dee away, almost a month in total since they left the Spirit World and arrived in this strange place, and Korra was putting the finishing touches on what she hoped would finally replace the outfit given to her at the frozen military base.  The process had involved much trial-and-error, especially since, like their attempts at assembling a glider, the mechanics involved were harder than they had any right to be when you considered just how easily they had managed to survive everything else out in the wild.  They had none of the necessary supplies for cloth-working; no needles, no stitching thread or fabrics, not even a pair of scissors (The closest thing they had was Joo Dee's combat knife), and it was all complicated by the fact that Korra could barely remember what she had been taught as a child. Still, with what she could recall, and with Asami's ability to deconstruct a problem, she had muddled through.

 

The sewing needles had been the easiest.  After she had given up on the idea of drawing metal directly out of the ground (It was theoretically possible; like water, metal was _everywhere_ in tiny concentrations, and if you had the precision and the focus you could collect it out of the air itself.  However, after an hour of fruitless effort she resolved to leave it to the Beifongs to figure out how to actually make it work) she had accepted stone tools, which she could easily bend out of the rock all around them.  Their thick bluntness would not have served for the precision of fashion, but were more than adequate for function.  Thread was the next challenge, and more difficult.  She remembered, very vaguely, the process to string out catgut, but here her own squeamishness was a problem; hunting an animal for food was one thing, an issue of kill-or-die, and even skinning and cleaning it was relatively easy, but to then spend hours handling its intestines....ugh.  She nearly gagged at the thought.  Surprisingly, it was Asami who took over that role, absorbing Korra's almost-incomplete instructions ("Hey," she had said defensively, "nobody's gone over this stuff with me for ten years, we didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with animal guts") and smoothly refining it into a straightforward process.  When it was all over, they had needles, thread, and with some judicious metalbending a pair of scissors as well (But Asami made Korra promise to bend the knife back to normal when they were done; it was not theirs, they were just borrowing it).  Then Korra had settled down to work, stitching and folding and realigning whenever they stopped for a break or to make camp for the night.  Now it was almost done, and none too soon, either; the need for clothing had gone from personal choice to practical necessity, since two weeks spent in the wilderness in the same shirt and pants had reduced them to tatters, especially now that they were traveling further every day.  Much longer and they would start getting embarrassed...or rather, they would if they ran into anybody else.  Among themselves....well, regardless, they still needed clothing for pragmatic purposes.

 

"Well, don't leave me in suspense, let me see!"   Asami's voice was eager, but Korra just grinned and instead erected a giant earthen wall between them.  "What are you doing?"

 

"I want it to be a surprise, just give me a moment" Korra said, and Asami could hear the shuffling sounds of changing.  A minute later she shouted "Ready?", and at Asami's affirmative the wall dropped away, revealing Korra.  She stood proudly, almost posing dramatically, but her voice had the tiniest catch when she asked "How do I look?"

 

"You look.....perfect", and to Asami that could not have been more true.  Standing there, clothed in an outfit that they had both made with their bare hands, posed against the backdrop of the forest that she had managed to tame single-handedly, Asami could not have imagined anything more appropriate.  Strength and beauty rolled together, embodying the grandeur of the whole wilderness.  The outfit was not the right color for proper Water Tribe gear, red and brown instead of the deep blue they favored, but the style was unmistakable, a tight tunic with a lower wrap that flared out to hang over a pair of pants.  Asami could see the echoes of the clothing that Korra had worn when she first came to Republic City four years ago, mixed with everything that had come afterwards.  "It's amazing... _you're_ amazing."

 

Korra blushed and shifted her feet, then reached up to tug on a lock of hair, "Thanks".  Asami recognized the gesture, she had first seen it what seemed like forever ago, when they had reunited after Korra returned to Republic City and she had seen Korra's new hairstyle.  Korra had looked beautiful even then, maybe the most beautiful person Asami had ever seen, but Asami had not had the courage to say so.  She had barely managed to say how great her new hair looked, and Korra had tugged a forelock in just the same way.  After so long apart, Asami had been ready to melt into her arms right then.

 

Korra looked up and walked over the remaining fur they had left, picking it up and weighing it out.  "I think I can do better the next time, now that I know what I'm doing, but I don't think we have enough for another complete outfit for you.  I made too many mistakes, had to trim away too much.  Sorry."  She looked so crestfallen that Asami had to laugh, reminded of a child apologizing that her drawing was not good enough.  "Don't worry, by the looks of things we still have a ways to go in this forest before we get to anywhere, we have plenty of time if we need to resupply.  Besides, I don't need a complete wardrobe.  Just give me enough to accessorize."  And Asami flipped her hair in _just_ that way, with _just_ that expression, that Korra could not keep her own chortle from escaping as she imagined any other member of the United Republic's social elite talking about forest accessories.

 

"Deal.  I've already got a few ideas."

 

And so the next night, after staying up late and working behind an earthblind to keep it a secret, Korra presented Asami with an over-the-shouler wrap that was long enough to drape down her back.  When Asami had put it on it almost hung long enough for a cape, and as she posed Korra was again struck at just how beautiful she was.  It was not just her physical appearance, but the way she carried herself, the aura she projected.  She was wearing an animal skin that had been clumsily stitched together in the woods, draped over an outfit that was pitted and marked and dirty, and yet Korra's mind could place her in any of the most exclusive restaurants in the world and could not imagine anybody protesting.  She had the air of beauty that was the envy of everybody else, and the internal fire to harness it.  Not for the first time, she reflected that she would go to the ends of the world with Asami...and, come to think of it, she _had_.

 

That night, as they lay down to sleep (With their new outfits carefully folded and put aside), they reflected that the had almost everything they could possibly need.  They had had food from the beginning, and they had learned what was good to hunt and forage for in these woods, and now they had clothing.  When it came to surviving in relative comfort, it looked like there were no challenges remaining.  All that was missing was...people.  Friends.  Stories to hear, jokes to tell, strangers to bump into on the street.  With no more needs that they needed to fill out here in the woods, their thoughts turned to the future and the hope that, maybe soon, they would escape these woods and finally see _people_ again.  Their desire was so great that, as they drifted off to sleep, they each thought that they heard the very distant sound of a satomobile driving down an open road.


	27. Chapter 27

It was shortly after midday when they stumbled upon the road running through the forest. Its surface was strange, a dark stone unlike the pavement used in Republic City, but a road it unmistakably was, and Korra and Asami cautiously approached its edge. By the sun it ran from the north-west to the south-east and was marked with painted lines, but as far as they could see in either direction it was empty, with not a satomobile to be seen. Where did it go? Who used it? Was it abandoned, or was it just not heavily trafficked because of how remote they were? None of the answers were forthcoming from the emptiness, however, and by silent accord they both stepped onto the road and began to follow its route. Logically it would lead somewhere; either to a city or a harbor or even just another road, and unless they wanted to spend the rest of their lives living in the wilderness (Which, admittedly, did have a certain appeal after all they had been through) this was likely their best chance of making contact with anybody.

 

After an hour they still had not encountered anybody, but now there was a distant buzzing in the air, a noise half-familiar. It sounded like a satomobile, but subtly different, as if....Asami had to fight the urge the literally smack herself in the forehead; of **course** it sounded different from a regular satomobile, _everything_ in this place was different.  "Korra, do you hear that?  I think it's a satomoble coming this way."

 

"Hmmm?"  Korra had registered the distant noise, but did not have Asami's precision ability to identify it when it was still so faint.  Now, a few seconds later, it was louder and clear.  "I think you're right.  Quick, get everything ready."  They began to rapidly dig through their supplies for the preparations they had made.

 

Without having a guide, it was fundamentally impossible for Korra or Asami to have made any progress in learning to speak English since Joo Dee had left, even with the assistance of the dictionary that they had, since they did not know how the language _worked._   It seemed like they had only an extremely limited number of characters, that were arranged together to form different words, but even the limited number of words that they had learned showed that they made different sounds in different situations.  Without being able to actually speak to somebody, or at least receive an introductory explanation, they would never be able to learn to speak the language on their own.  However, what they could do was learn to _read_ (and write) the language, or at least read it well enough to make themselves understood.  In the time since they had been separated from Joo Dee they had spent many hours reading the dictionary, pairing off the words they knew with their English translations and struggling to gain a vocabulary by rote memorization.  They expected whatever they wrote to be a mishmash of horrible grammar and poor sentence structure, but hopefully it would be enough, and they had spent hours writing out notes for when they finally made contact with somebody.  So, when the strange satomobile slowed to a stop as it saw them waving their arms at the side of the road, Asami already had their greeting ready to hand to whomever was inside.

 

The satomobile itself was unlike any they had seen before, which by now was not so strange given everything else they had already encountered.  The first thing Asami noted was how _small_ it was; it seemed to almost hug the ground, and she could not imagine how they fit an engine into its chassis.  They next thing she realized was how plain it was, but also how stylized; there was almost no artistry or emblemation, but it also seemed to be composed of nothing but curves.  Already she wanted to dig into its engine and look at its performance; the angles probably helped with air resistance, but how did it handle?  Then she noticed that the window was sliding down, but sliding down smoothly, clearly not being cranked by its occupant.  Motorized windows?  MechaTanks and other big devices had motorized hatches, but how could they be made small enough to fit into a door to control a window?  Or rather, who would spend the money for such specialized equipment?  Had they happened to stumble upon some wealthy or powerful individual?  Then the window was completely down, and Asami forced away her questions until they had already escaped their isolation.

 

The driver of the vehicle, and its sole occupant, was an older woman that was looking over Asami and Korra with what appeared to be a mixture of horror and hilarity, and Asami belatedly realized that they had to look absolutely ridiculous.  Dressed in a patchwork of hide clothing and scraps, pulling a stone cart, it was a wonder that she had stopped at all and not just kept driving.  What kind of people was this woman used to dealing with, did people walk out of these woods often?  Giving her best smile, Asami extended the note they had written and said the one complete sentence she had memorized with Joo Dee.

 

"I'm sorry, my friend and I do not speak English, but I am trying to learn.  Please speak slowly and clearly."  The note they had written went into a little more detail; "Hello, me and my friend do not speak English and are lost in these woods.  We would be very grateful if you could give us a ride to the nearest town.  Please help us."  At least, that was what they had _tried_ to write; apparently their wording was even worse than they had thought, because the driver stared at the note with blank incomprehension before tossing it back.  Except maybe it was not the note at all, because then the woman began speaking and it was in that same other-language that Huan had spoken, as had a few people at the military base.  "Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas l'anglais mon cher. Savez-vous Québécois?"

 

Was that the main language of the land after all, not English?  Had they come to a different nation in their walking?  The people who had previously spoken this other-language had also spoken English, but this woman seemed to have no comprehension at all, and she and Asami stared at each other for a minute in mutual ignorance.  Well, back to pantomime then.

 

With great exaggeration, Asami pointed to herself and Korra, then deep into the woods.  She mimed walking with her fingers, then pointed to the 'mobile and waved down the road in the direction it had been traveling.  She finished by smiling her _widest_ smile and held her hands clasped beneath her chin, giving what she hoped was the best impression of pleading she had.  Halfway through the display Korra had begun laughing, and by the end even the woman has chuckling.  Apparently the message got across, as she began nodding and smiling, then waved them forward.  They had no expectation of bringing their entire cart with them, and instead just grabbed the chest which they had used all along to store the items they could not easily reproduce; the dictionary and papers, their pelts and spare clothing, and sewing implements.  The cart itself, and its pile of firewood and frozen meat, they left by the side of the road.  As they approached the 'mobile they wondered where they were to put the chest, and if they would have to leave that behind as well, when suddenly the rear of the vehicle began to rise by itself away from the body.  Another motorized seal?  It opened to reveal an empty space, presumably for storage, and with relish they dropped the chest into it and stepped back, wondering if it would close by itself.  When it remained open, Korra reached up and pulled it down, and then they walked back towards the front.  Now they wondered how they were supposed to get _in_ ; there looked to be handles on the side of what were likely doors, but were these automatic as well?  Off of the look the old lady was giving them, which reminded Asami very much of a look Tenzin bore quite often, she was waiting for _them_ to do something, so Asami tentatively reached out to grasp the handle and pulled.  There was an extremely unusual resistance to her pull, not quite like any lever she had worked before, but the door opened, and Asami and Korra climbed inside.  They could hear the woman up front muttering under her breath, such imprecations as they could not imagine, but in moments the 'mobile was in motion and....

 

They were moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait, are we finally meeting PEOPLE? Actually regular people, not soldiers at the North Pole or random guys flying around the wilderness? How the heck did this happen?
> 
> And yes, at the end that little old lady is muttering EXACTLY what you think she is.


	28. Chapter 28

"I'm not sure _exactly_ what I was expecting, but after everything we've seen so far I did think it would be a little bit... _more_.  Do you know what I mean?"  Korra and Asami stood outside of what they had deduced was a filling station for the 'mobile combined with a small store, and Korra could not quite contain her disappointment at the apparent lack of personal flying machines or other amazing technology.  Instead it was a small building, old and dilapidated, and except for the different building styles it could have been any isolated trading post or waypoint in the Earth Kingdom.  There _were_ a few flashing lights in the windows, brightly colored and in strange shapes, but that was not what she had expected.

 

"Well, don't worry, I think we're still out in the middle of nowhere.  I'm sure when we reach a city we'll have all the 'more' we can handle.  Come on, let's see what it's like," and Asami grabbed Korra's hand and pulled her towards the door.

 

The drive after the woman had picked them up had been somewhat un-dramatic for a roadside rescue.  Despite the unfamiliarity of the vehicle itself (And Korra could practically _feel_ Asami's urge to inspect it in detail), once it began moving it was just another satomobile in motion; it did not fly in the air or tunnel underground, it drove on four wheels like any other vehicle they had ever ridden in, so its wonder soon wore off.  Initially they had tried to speak with the woman driving, searching for some commonality, but after a half hour of fruitless, one-sided conversation they gave up and just sat back to relish their first luxury in days. Soon they were looking out the windows to try and catch a glimpse of the world beyond the forest, and as they drove they began to notice more and more signs of habitation.

 

First they saw the poles and wires which ran alongside the road; they were similar to the power lines in Republic City, but they looked unmistakably weaker, and after a while Korra realized that without bending they had not needed to be strengthened to support the transport of metalbending police (She still remembered they way they had pursued her atop the power lines when she first arrived in the city).  After a while they noticed what looked like isolated houses; as with the buildings at the North Pole the designs were so alien and unlike they were used to, but their basic structure seemed sound back in the forest.  As the hours passed, however, they began to wonder at just how vast this land was, and whether there even was any end to this forest, and it was longer still before they had arrived at this lone stopping point.  Their driver was fussing over the 'mobile at one of the metal stands, presumably obtaining more fuel, and she had shooed them towards the building with a friendly air.  They did not have any money (Did these people even _use_ money?), but at least they could look.

 

Leaning against the wall next to the door was a man who smiled and nodded his head as they approached, but there was something in his eyes....Korra and Asami both smiled back, but neither felt any urge to see if they could communicate with him, quickly opening the door and stepping inside.  Inside... _here_ was the 'more' that Korra had been expecting.  So much glass, almost as much as there had been metal at the North Pole.  What looked like an entire wall of glass towards the back of the store, behind which were bottles and cartons which they could not identify, and more glass cases scattered around.  There were shelves stocked with packages, some with pictures of food on them, others with pictures of strange tools that they could not begin to guess at, and even the packages themselves were strange.  Some were flexible, some were firm, but only a very few seemed to be metal or wood; what material were the others?  And next to the one person in the store, a young man who looked even younger than them standing behind a counter, was one of those talking pictures.  The last people they had seen speak from one of those had been able to communicate with them, albeit slowly and through many translations, so once they noticed it they rushed over at once and began to pull out pieces of paper to begin writing.

 

"Bonjour, puis-je vous aider?...Y at-il quelque chose que vous avez besoin?"  The store worker, as they presumed him to be, had a vacant look that reminded them of nothing so much as the airbender Ryu.

 

Pointing to the picture, hoping to get across that they were going to speak to the woman on the screen who seemed to be reading from some notes, they began to wave their letters in front of the picture.  The woman in the picture, however, seemed to take no notice of them, and continued reading as if she had not seen them.

 

"Um .... êtes-vous bien? Dois-je .... dois-je appeler un médecin?"  The boy behind the counter seemed to have noticed their appearance for the first time, or maybe he had just detected the smell (Washing in a stream suffices for what it is, but weeks of stranded exertion are definitely noticeable), and his voice had a quiver to it as he looked confusedly between them.

 

"Tout va bien ici Billy?"  That came from behind them, accompanied by the _*ding*_ of a bell that was hung above the door, and Korra turned to see that man they had noticed as they walked in.  He was still smiling, but there was still something about him....

 

"Tout est très bien Steve."  Now the kid looked nervous, and his eyes were darting back and forth just a little bit more rapidly.  "Je pense qu'ils sont juste confus, rien à craindre."

 

"Eh bien, se ils sont perdus , il serait bon voisinage pour les aider . D'où êtes-vous?"  His words were still meaningless, but that was when Korra noticed that he had never stopped approaching them as he spoke, and her alarms began jingling.  That was a very basic, but also effective, grapplers trick; by disguising your approach by speaking and making it look casual, you could get within reaching distance before they even realized you were too close for comfort.  He was _still_ smiling, but his eyes were locked on them and...no, not 'them', he was looking at **Korra** , and he took another casual step towards her.  Looking him over Korra was not unduly impressed, certainly not a figure that she would ever call imposing (His clothing looked dirty and he needed a shave, and she expected that he had not had a close encounter with 'exercise' for many years), but the entire situation was odd.  He did not have the appearance of somebody here to commit a crime against the store (The clerk even seemed to know him), so why were his actions (Potentially) threatening?  What was going on? 

 

From Asami's posture she had also realized that there was something off, and at almost the same time they casually stepped back, putting themselves comfortably outside of the man's reach without a lunge that he could not help but broadcast.  He had opened his mouth to speak again, and likely to cover another step of his own, when there was the _*ding*_ behind him and they all turned to see the woman who had driven them here standing in the doorway.  She had her hands placed firmly on her hips and was _glaring_ in a way that made Korra think of the look Lin Beifong had so often given her.  This woman was not nearly as threatening, but the attitude seemed to be identical.  The man opened his mouth to speak, but the woman cut him off, speaking too rapidly for Korra to even parse out her words and seemingly battering him down every time he tried to get something in edgewise.  However, now he was advancing towards _her_ during her tirade, and during one step Korra noticed what looked like the sheathe of a knife sticking out from beneath the back of his coat.  That settled this, _whatever_ it was, for her, and during his next step Korra lifted her leg and...gently nudged the back of the knee of his leg that was still on the ground.

 

As his balance collapsed and he crumpled to the ground, making a comical series of noises that they could only guess were curses, Asami quickly stepped forward, grabbed his right arm, and used it to lever him onto his stomach, then twisted it behind him to keep him immobilized.  She reached down to pull up his jacket, and Korra could see that he actually had had a knife hidden back there.  Calmly, she removed the knife from the sheathe and handed it Korra, who looked it over.  It certainly was not a hunting knife, or even a combat knife, it looked more like...Korra could even begin to fathom _what_ it was intended for; it was so oversized and misshapen (With extraneous pointy bits) that she could not imagine it having any meaningful function.  Then she looked up and realized that the woman who had been driving them and the boy behind the counter were both staring at them with utter amazement.

 

"Sorry," Kora said, and she felt a little sheepish, but what else could they have done?  The guy had been giving off subtle threatening cues as soon as he entered the store, neither she nor Asami were about to let him attack the very kind woman that had rescued them from more walking through the woods, let alone themselves.  If they were wrong about him, well...there was no serious harm done, and it could all be straightened out.  From Asami's reddening cheeks she felt as embarrassed as Korra, but given her swift action she clearly agreed.

 

"What do we do now?" Asami asked after several seconds passed with nobody moving or saying anything, except for the man beneath her who was mumbling under his breath.

 

"I think it's time we left."  Calmly, Korra held the knife (Could it even be _called_ a knife?  It was ridiculous) in both hands and bent it nearly in two, then dropped it in an open bin which she saw next to the counter.  She stepped around the man's legs, towards the door, and as she neared it Asami released her grip and sprung away quickly, in case he tried to retaliate.  He did not make any hostile movies, though, just sat up and rubbed his shoulder, glaring at them--No, still glaring at Korra--and continuing to mumble to himself.  As they were about to leave he raised his voice, shouting after them; short, harsh words that could not possibly have been complete sentences, but which he imbued with a lot of vitriol that crossed all language barriers.  Their driver, who had been pretty solidly focused on them ever since the takedown, turned back to face him as he began shouting, and Korra had not thought she could have looked any angrier than she had before.  Just before she walked through the door herself she shouted something back, then stormed through and back towards her 'mobile.

 

"Hey, I just realized something...that woman in the picture never reacted to anything at all."  Korra almost laughed at the way Asami could suddenly pluck _that_ bit of information out of what had just happened, but after a moment of thought she had to nod in agreement.  They had not been focused on the picture after the man started speaking to them, but her voice had kept the same tone without interruption.

 

"Maybe she couldn't see us?  Do only some pictures go both ways?"

 

"That could be it, maybe some are like mover recordings."

 

"I would love to see a mover like _that_ , it was almost like she was right in front us.  The Next Nuktuk!"  They both laughed at that, and while they were talking they had been walking towards the street to begin walking again down the road.  However, before they could reach it they heard a shout and turned around to see the woman waving at them, beckoning them back towards the satomobile.  Surprised, the returned back the way they had come, figuring that she would not want to continue escorting them.  Instead she seemed ecstatic, smiling widely and ushering them back into the 'mobile.

 

Once inside she turned to them and said something, again speaking too fast for them to even parse the words, and then she stopped and pointed to herself.  "Kunik," she said, then pointed towards each of them, waiting.  Smiling, Korra and Asami introduced themselves, and then she began driving again down the road.

 

'Kunik'.  It was a nice name, Korra thought.  Almost like it was from the Water Tribe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do any of you read the comic _Lumberjanes_? Well, if you don't you should, partly because issue #11 which came out today **is** this story I'm writing. Seriously, its just...they're writing this fanfic. I can't explain it, but they are.
> 
> Also, READ _LUMBERJANES!_ Right now! I don't care where you are, find a comic shop and go buy that comic or I will _fight_ you!
> 
> Friendship to the max!


	29. Chapter 29

It was an hour later into their drive when Korra and Asami were startled by a sudden, loud beeping noise which seemed to be coming from the car itself.  Looking around in confusion (Certainly not  _panic_ , just...heightened curiosity), they were about to begin tearing at the paneling when Kunik pressed a button on the steering wheel and seemingly began talking to the car..... _and the car talked back!_ It sounded like the voice of a young man, speaking in the same language Kunik was speaking, but it seemed to emanate from thin air.  They twisted in their seats, looking for where a radio or phonograph could have been concealed, while Kunik and the disembodied voice carried on what sounded like a very plain, normal conversation.  At least, until they caught their own names being mentioned, and then the mysterious voice got a lot more agitated, apparently shocked by whatever Kunik was saying.

 

"I'm guessing she just got to the part about what happened at that store,"  Asami whispered to Korra, and Korra did her best to smother a giggle so as to not interrupt, but she had to agree.  It sounded like Kunik was explaining the events of the day, and whoever she was talking to (Friend?  Husband?  Brother?  Son?) was not taking the revelations very well.  He sounded nearly frantic.  Then, surprisingly, he started addressing Korra and Asami in English.  Startled, they looked to Kunik, who waved as if to say they should say something, but how?  Where?  There was no microphone that they could see, nor a sound horn.  Taking a cue from her, Asami spoke as if to the car itself and brought out (Again) the one complete sentence she had memorized; "I'm sorry, my friend and I do not speak English, but I am trying to learn.  Please speak slowly and clearly".

 

The voice paused, then spoke again, slower this time, and in a much shorter sentence.  Asami could not understand every word, but she managed to decipher the gist: What had happened?  Marshalling what command of the language she had, she tried to lay it out, "Strange man.  Danger maybe?  Protect.  None hurt.  Leave."  Surely Kunik had given a more detailed explanation, but maybe he had simply wanted confirmation.  After Asami finished he returned to that other language, and he and Kunik went at each other once again.

 

"From the way he sounds, do you think he'd have been happier if we'd let that man do something?" Korra asked as they shouted over one another.

 

"I'm sure he's just worried that she put herself in that situation.  Could you imagine how....uh...how would you feel if...." Asami tried to think of somebody they knew who would be aghast at them walking into danger, or who _they_ would not want to get involved in a situation like that, but was having trouble actually coming up with any names.  "Now that I think about, pretty much all of our friends would have been right at home in that situation.  There wasn't even a MechaTank involved."

 

"Well, Prince Wu probably wouldn't have pulled it off too well," Korra said, then added in a much more subdued voice, "I wonder how everybody's doing back home?"

 

"I'm sure everybody's fine.  We would have only been home for a week now from our vacation, and I doubt everything's fallen apart in that short of time."  Asami reached out to take Korra's hand, holding it tight, "Don't worry."

 

"I'm not worried, I'm just...worried.  The Earth Kingdom's going to be holding its first elections and the rebuilding of Republic City should be starting soon, and there were those problems in the Fire Nation that Tenzin didn't want to bother us with, and what if..."

 

"Korra, _don't worry_."  And Asami's firmness caused Korra's head to rise up.  "Wu might not have been able to knock that guy to the floor, but he's committed to getting the Earth Kingdom into the hands of the people and he has Mako to help guide him.  Republic City has already rebuilt from the growth of the Spirit Wilds, they'll recover from this, too.  And Tenzin was already dealing with the Fire Nation.  I'm sure they would have all been very grateful for our help, but we have a very competent, very well supported family back home.  So, while we're here just think of us as having extended our vacation and again, don't worry."

 

Grinning, Korra leaned in to rest her forehead against Asami's, letting the other's certainty wash away her doubts.  "You know, you're pretty smart.  Maybe it wasn't just your looks that kept you on top of Future Industries."

 

Asami gasped in mock-outrage and was about to retort when they heard the mysterious voice calling their names, and they looked up to notice that he and Kunik had stopped speaking to each other.  Again he asked them a question in English, which they boiled down to: Where are you going?

 

"No go here.  No friends.  No family.  Explore.  Learn."

 

Kunik and the voice spoke again, and with manifest reluctance he addressed them one last time:  Kunik would be home within the hour, and they were welcome to stay for a while.  Then there was an audible * _click*_ and the voice was gone.  Looking to Kunik, they saw that she was grinning widely, and looking at each they shrugged and smiled in turn.  Now they had a place where they could recuperate from their time in the woods, potentially learn more about the world, and maybe even finally learn how to _speak_ to these people.  All in all, this had not been a bad day.

 

Outside the car, the heavy forest was being interrupted more and more frequently by other fuel stops, houses, shopping centers, and all the signs of human life.  More cars were on the road, people were in evidence, and they passed by small towns and villages of various different makeups.  Soon, as the disembodied voice had said, Kunik turned off the road that they had been traveling down since she had picked them up and began to wind their way through much more intimate passages, twisting in and out of local throughways until arriving at what they presumed was her house.  Parking in the driveway, Kunik gestured expansively as she got out (Korra and Asami needed no translation for that: Welcome to my home!) and beckoned them to join her.  As they were all disentangling themselves from the vehicle, stretching from the long trip and Korra took their chest out of the rear storage compartment, the front door of house opened and a young man walked out.  He looked to be about Korra and Asami's own age, and as he caught sight of them for the first time he stopped short, jaw dropping open in comical fashion as the artfully surly expression that he had prepared on his face disappeared.  Seeing his reaction, Korra figured that she and Asami must have looked as absolutely ridiculous as they has thought, and she laughed as he approached.  Well, that was to be expected after weeks in the woods, and at the moment she would not have traded the rough clothing that she and Asami had made together for the finest silks in Republic City.

 

When he finally reached them, Kunik spoke first, pulling him into a motherly hug that needed no more translation than her previous welcome had (Some things transcended all language), then turned to introduce the three of them.  At least, that was what Korra and Asami assumed, as she continued to speak this other-language which they still did not understand.  But eventually she wound down and he stepped forward, and she introduced him as 'Petuwaq'.  Korra grinned, another almost-Water Tribe name, and she grinned even wider as Petuwaq frowned and corrected her, saying something which sounded like a shortening; 'Peet' or somesuch.  Whatever his name was, she shook his proffered hand, as did Asami, and then they followed Kunik up to the house.  Behind them, Petuwaq followed, still with the same stunned look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, look at it:
> 
> Also, I think I'm going to start writing 'car' instead of always saying 'satomobile' (Or just 'mobile'), it's getting clumsy. Plus, they called it a 'car' at least once in the show itself, so it counts as canon!


	30. Chapter 30

Until you have spent two weeks living in the woods, with only piled dirt and leaves for a bed and a moose pelt for a blanket, bathing in a forest stream that you had to heat yourself, the simple luxury of a warm shower and a padded seat never seems quite as sublime.  For the second time in a month (The first time being after they had been rescued from the frozen tundra), Korra and Asami relished the simple pleasure of being able to luxuriate without simultaneously needing to watch for dangerous animals, shield themselves from the elements, and strenuously work at the same time.  Kunik had practically thrown them into the showers, and afterwards had presented them each with clothing to don instead of what they had already been wearing.  It was different than what they were used to (At this point, what was not?), but it was clean and soft and they accepted them with gratitude.  Then, she and Petuwaq busied themselves in the small kitchen, and soon Korra and Asami had a veritable feast before them, compared to their meagre diet of the past days that had been composed of nothing but the spoils of their hunting and foraged fruits.  Throughout it all, barely ten words had been exchanged between them, with Petuwaq (Speaking for Kunik) merely repeating English variations of "Wait" and "Relax" each time one of them tried to step foreword or assist.

 

"Thank you very much," Asami said as they were seated around the table, "You didn't need to do all of this."  They did not understand her, of course, but they waved it away regardless.  Kunik and Petuwaq spoke briefly, and then Petuwaq tried to convey the translation in the broken words they could understand.

 

"Mom deal with bad men before.  Mean words.  Mean thoughts because of blood (Asami wondered if she had understood that correctly).  She understands." _  
_

 

They could recognize his voice as the one from the car earlier, but there was none of the hostility or shortness.  Instead, he seemed almost warm, although they both noticed that he seemed hesitant to look them in the eye for too long.  But what was he referring to?  The man they had disarmed before?  Kunik had seemed particularly incensed by what he had shouted as they left, were those the 'mean words' she was talking about?  Likely they would not be able to clarify until they had grown more familiar with the language, so they just smiled and nodded and turned to the meal, enjoying the variety and the additional spice lent by its strangeness.  Afterwards, as it had already advanced well into the evening by this point, Kunik showed them to a small room that they presumed to be for guests, as it had two small prepared beds side-by-side, and left them for the evening.  As they settled into one of the beds, again taking solace in the simple softness and warmth, they smiled that things finally seemed to be looking up.  They were out of the woods, had caught glimpses of life among these people, and tomorrow planned to finally go out and see what it was all like.

 

* * *

 

"Oh, what is that wonderful smell?"

 

"Hmmmm?"  Asami was barely conscious, and she struggled vainly to sink even further into the warmth of the pillows, but the raw lust in Korra's voice dragged her upwards.  "What smell?"

 

"It's coming from the kitchen, and it might just tempt me away from you if you stay here.  Wake up!"  Korra's playful tone nudged Asami even further awake, and she slowly sat up and sniffed the air.

 

"What  _is_ it?" Asami echoed.

 

"If you weren't so slow we could have already investigated, so get a move on."  Korra was already out of their bed, clearly eager to chase down the source of the mystery aroma.  Laughing, Asami joined her, and together they ventured forth to explore.

 

The house itself was...it was a house.  Everything was strangely designed, but Asami and Korra were grateful to see that even in this strange world, people lived like people.  There were portraits hung on the walls, and they stopped to admire them as they walked; these seemed to be regular pictures, no movement, but they were still more vibrantly colored and detailed than any photographs from back home.  Kunik and Petuwaq were in them, as was an older man (Kunik's husband?) and a young woman that looked to be about Petuwaq's age, but the two new people were nowhere to be seen around the house.  In one room they saw one of the moving pictures, the largest they had ever seen, put atop a stand and showing what appeared to be some kind of sporting event (Lots of running and kicking with a ball), but there was no sound coming from it and nobody in the room to interact with it.

 

"Mover picture."  Asami said with certainty, and Korra nodded.  "I wonder how you can tell which ones are two-way, and which ones are just recordings?"

 

Before they reached the kitchen they passed another open room, probably Petuwaq's bedroom they guessed from the slept-in bed, and they stared briefly at the paintings hung on the wall.  One showed what seemed to be a man battling an armored figure while they wielded swords made of light, and another showed what could have only been a spirit of some kind, giant and breathing fire at a city.  The painting of the spirit had writing on it that  **almost** made sense, but none of the characters were quite right.

 

"I wonder what the legends are for these?" Korra asked, "I've never heard of a spirit like that."  It looked larger than even when Unalaq had merged with Vaatu during Harmonic Convergence.

 

Before they could explore further, their own growling stomachs turned them away and they kept following the smell and now also the sound of something sizzling as it cooked. In the kitchen, looking for all the world like any parent and child they had ever seen, Kunik stood over a stove with a pan filled with the source of the aroma, and Petuwaq sat the table, with his head nodding as if he was still half asleep.  Grinning at the familiarity, they took the seats that Kunik indicated for them and greedily gobbled down the portions already prepared.  The meat was unusual, something like moo-sow bacon, and delicious.  The juice that went with it....actually, that was just orange juice, exactly the same as the juice back home.  They were almost disappointed that there was not some other unique flavor.

 

After the breakfast, as they sat around the table and contentedly digested, Asami decided that it was time to begin communicating in earnest.  Petuwaq clearly knew  _something_ of English, even if he spoke mostly in this other-language, and hopefully together they could manage to have a meaningful dialogue.  Picking up one of the notepads that she and Korra had carried through the forest, she began to write.

 

"Hello.  Thank you both very much for rescuing us from the forest and this wonderful meal, we are very grateful for your help.  We are strangers to your land, but we are learning to read English and can speak very few words.  What is this other language you are speaking?"

 

Petuwaq took the note and studied it for a few minutes, then spoke to Kunik and wrote a response.

 

"We are speaking ~~Quebecois~~ French, you are in Quebec.  I am studying English, but am still learning.  Where are you from?  What language do you speak?"

 

Quebec?  They were sure that the soldiers had said "Canada", had they crossed somehow nations?  It did not seem possible, given how large the land had seemed, but much was still unknown about this place.  Or was it much simpler than that; was Quebec a city or state within Canada?  That would have to wait, how should they respond to his questions?  The truth would be meaningless, but they did not know enough about this world to give a convincing lie about their origins.  Shrugging, they went with the truth.

 

"We are from Republic City in the United Republic of Nations.  We do not know how to write our language in English, we write it 語言."

 

"Why are you here?"

 

Now they hesitated again, unsure of exactly what to say.  They did not want to lie, but the truth again likely would have meant nothing to them.

 

"We do not know how to get home, and do not have any friends or family in Quebec.  We hope to learn about your ways and understand your people, there is much that we do not know."

 

That note seemed to have a much larger impact than the previous ones, and Kunik and Petuwaq began having a very determined discussion.  Some words sounded familiar in the strange language, similar to something they had heard the soldiers say, and it sounded like " _réfugié_ ".  Petuwaq seemed to be trying to convince Kunik of something, and she was putting up a desultory resistance, and in seconds she was nodding her approval.  Smiling, he quickly scribbled out another note.

 

"You can stay here as you learn our ways, we will be happy to show you.  I can teach you French, English is spoken elsewhere but not very much here."

 

Stay here?  Asami and Korra looked at each other in something like shock, they had not expected such an offer.  A pleasant night's sleep was all they had thought to gain, and were already planning to begin traveling again later in the day.  But..why not?  They did not have anywhere to actually  _go_ , and the prospect of a warm bed every night was much more preferable than whatever they could scrounge up daily, especially with people that were already already friendly.

 

"Thank you very much," they wrote.

 

Petuwaq grinned widely.


	31. Chapter 31

There was a quiet murmur of distant voices, faint and obscure as if coming from down a long hallway, and all around there was the steady _beep_ ing and whirring of various devices. Then there was a large object looming and a deep, booming voice from above shouted out.

 

"Lieutenant Moon, can you hear me?"  After a moment, while the echoes of its thunderous roar faded, it asked again, "Lieutenant Moon?  Can you open your eyes please?"  And Lieutenant Judith Moon widened her eyes from the slitted cracks they had been and looked up at the smiling visage of a doctor leaning over her.  "Much better.  How are you feeling?"

 

"I...but...what happened?"  She felt weak, but she struggled to sit up.

 

"Easy there, Lieutenant, stay still" and the doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.  He by no means pushed hard, but even that soft pressure was enough to keep her flat.  "We were hoping you could tell us.  What do you remember?"

 

"I was..(A pause here, half to take a breath and half to remember)...I was escorting Korra and Asami....the two unknowns....to Trenton, uh, CFB Trenton and we....the plane...where am I?"  She struggled again, looking about hurriedly.

 

"You're in CFB Bagotville, you were brought in here two days ago.  Please, try to focus, what happened during transport?"

 

"I don't...I'm not sure....Asami jumped me and Korra, she..." and suddenly she was thrashing in her bed as the doctor did his best to restrain her, calling for an assistant with a sedative, and then she slowly calmed until she was still.  The last image her mind conjured before she lost consciousness completely was of a strong, dark-skinned woman, dressed in a woodland suit, marching towards her with glowing eyes and fists wreathed in fire.

 

* * *

 

 

"Are you feeling better today, Lieutenant?"

 

"Yes, sir, thank you."  She was sitting up now with eyes that focused properly, but her glance was still actively darting around her hospital room.  Accompanying her doctor, Captain Michaels, were the three officers that had been with him the day before, when she had first been coherent enough to speak for an extended period.  She had been told their names, but they had already faded from her mind.

 

"Major Simmons would like to go over some of the details of your report from yesterday to clear up some details."

 

"Of course, sir.  What did you want clarified?"

 

The three settled into their chairs and brought out their various notes and recorders, flipping through and conferring amongst themselves before turning to her.

 

"We appreciate how hard this is for you, Lieutenant, so we'll try to be brief.  We were wondering if you could recall what kind of device Korra used to breach the transport during their escape?"

 

"I'm sorry, Major, but I wasn't in a position to see."  Her mind's eye brought up the crystal-clear image of Korra laying her hands flat against the hull of the plane.  "Asami, the other woman, had me restrained and I couldn't get around her."  She saw the way the hull of the plane just _opened_ , suddenly exposing the cabin to the outside air.  "By the time she released me the cabin was already breached."

 

"And did you notice where they had hidden their parachutes, or who they obtained them from?"

 

"No, sir.  It happened extremely quickly, they were out of the plane before I knew what was happening."  She smiled in a way that she hoped was self-deprecating, as if trying to downplay an act of bravery.  "I grabbed Asami before I realized that she was actually planning to jump, I didn't notice them don parachutes and I wasn't planning to follow them out."

 

"Have you managed to remember anything about your landing, or what happened next?"

 

The image of Korra wreathed in flame and starlight, flying as if not bound by gravity, burst to the forefront of her mind and tried to get her to begin sobbing again.  "No, sir, it's all still a blur, I think I was in very poor shape after we touched down.  Just flashes; we made camp and marched south towards recovery, but the days aren't clear."

 

"Did the two of them give you any indication as to where they were planning on going next, or what their ultimate goals were?"

 

"We had never managed any effective communication, we got by on hand signals and a dictionary since we didn't have the video link to the CFLS."  She remembered the note they had written the day after they landed in the woods: 'No plan.  See the world.  Find a way home'.  "I never got a hostile intent from either of them, though."

 

The three officers looked at one another at that, and she could almost hear their non-verbal conversation between themselves.  Almost as one they turned back to her.  "Are you sure there's nothing else you can recall?  Did they meet or communicate with anybody?  Access any stored supplies?  Demonstrate anything to indicate their background or where they were from?"

 

She saw Korra's hands shrouded in water that glowed with an internal light, and dragging an 800-pound moose like it was nothing, and burying the three of them alive and then bringing them forth the next day.  "Nothing at all, sir, I've given you everything I can."

 

Captain Michaels had been standing to the side throughout, carefully monitoring her status, and he stepped forward to interject.  "Sir, I think this will have to be enough for now, she's still not in very good shape.  She's recovering well and should be up for another session tomorrow, but I must ask you to leave now and allow her rest."

 

From every other debriefing (Or interrogation) she had been involved in she expected Major Simmons to object, perhaps forcefully and perhaps subtly, but to her surprise he nodded in simple acquiescence and rose.  The other two rose with him (She had not remembered their names from the day before) and they all left with proper, polite farewells.

 

* * *

 

 

"How are things coming along, Lieutenant?" Lieutenant-colonel Monke asked as he walked through the door to her room.  "No, don't get up.  As you were."

 

She had tried to surge to her feet as he walked through the door, but gratefully sank back down to her chair at his command.  "I'm doing very well, sir, thank you."  With one look at her sunken pallor and shaking legs he knew that was a bald-faced lie, and she knew that he knew, but they both knew the rules of the game.  That, at least had not changed.  "I wasn't aware you were on-base, sir."

 

"I just arrived today, helping to straighten some things out.  You among them."  He eyed her, his face a professional mask, but she had served in the RCAF long enough to be able to read the thoughts behind a mask like that.  Colonel Monke had always been able to see his subordinates as people, and she could tell he was thinking right now.

 

"Sir?  I had my final debrief yesterday, I'm just waiting on orders to my next station."  That was part of the game as well; she knew that it would be a long time before her next station when it took the help of a nurse to get from her bed to the chair next to it.

 

"Your debrief is part of what needs untangling.  There are some....additional questions....that have been raised."

 

She honestly could not be surprised at that given how many holes were in her report.  "I've given my full report and been reviewed, sir."  That was as much of a challenge as she could offer, and Monke knew it.  He stared at her for a moment, waiting, and apparently weighing the risks internally.

 

"Lieutenant, do you know how you were retrieved?"

 

"Yes, sir, Captain Michaels filled me in on the medevac and transfer.  The two women flagged down a civilian flier and he radioed for a rescue chopper.  I'm lucky they didn't just leave me in the woods, I guess they didn't have cold-blooded murder in them."  She remembered Asami's soft, smooth finger pointing defiantly to the word 'friend' in the dictionary they had used.

 

"Anything else?"

 

"Sir?"

 

"Do you know _anything else_ about the circumstances of your retrieval?"

 

"No, sir, I was...I was in pretty bad shape."  Even now there was a quaver in her voice, and her rescue really was just a haze of sound and motion.

 

"Lieutenant, your evac site was nearly _five hundred miles_ from the point of departure with your transport."  **That** got her attention, and she racked her mind for anything she might have forgotten, but...no, they had marched for only a few hours total, not even a full day.   They could not have covered that much distance.  "You were completely outside of our search area, beyond every perimeter we had set up."

 

"Sir, I...I don't..."

 

"Lieutenant, you need to appreciate how this looks.  Whoever these women are, they are apparently in contact with people on our own territory and had transportation waiting to meet them when they jumped to take them out of the area.  That indicates that everything that happened has been planned, deliberately, going back to who-knows-when.  It might also indicate that they had cooperation from some of our people at Station Alert to smuggle their equipment onto the herc.   From what I've heard from the other people on the flight they are every bit as dangerous as you thought they were, and they have shown skills that I found farfetched when I saw James Bond pull them off.  So, I'm going to ask again, Lieutenant, and I need you to think really hard before you answer.  You've been recovering from your ordeal, groggy from the drugs, and things can get fuzzy.  Everybody knows that, and everybody understands what that can mean for an incomplete initial debrief.  Now, after having had time to recover and come to terms with what happened, and with your system good and cleaned out, is there anything else you can remember that you wish to have added to your report?"

 

The silence stretched out, and she honestly could not have said if it really was ten minutes or if the tension just made it feel like it was.

 

"I've given my full report and been reviewed, sir."

 

He was silent for a full minute before he nodded.  Slowly.  Just once.  "Very good Lieutenant," he said, and he politely shut the door softly as he left.

 

Leaning her head back in her chair, Lieutenant Judith Moon closed her eyes and again saw the vision of a forest spirit, fierce and bright-eyed and beautiful and terrifying and strong.  Beside the forest spirit seemed an angel, golden light bordered by raven black and no less reverent or awful.  Together they stared at her, and her body shook as tears streamed down her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Moon wasn't supposed to make an appearance for quite a bit longer yet, but to be honest I was missing her, and I was missing stuff happening. The past few chapters have been a bit mundane (Korra and Asami ride in a car. They listen to a phone call. They eat bacon) and I was thinking "Hey, whatever happened to the woman who we gave a mental breakdown to after she had a religious experience?"
> 
> This won't change any of what I already had planned, we'll just see some of the intervening time instead of hearing about it second-hand.
> 
> And for the curious: The White-tailed deer's habitat extends only to the southern reaches of eastern Canada, stopping far short of the north-east border of Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador.


	32. Chapter 32

When they had digested enough to consider moving, Petuwaq gave them both a new set of clothing, saying "Sister" when they looked at him in confusion.  The girl from the pictures, perhaps?  They did not fit perfectly (Slightly too short on Asami, slightly to tight on Korra), but they had both had to deal with far worse in their time, donning them without complaint.  They stood in the room they had inhabited the night before and looked at themselves in the long mirror it had, taking in their new style; the pants were dark blue and made of some kind of firm fabric, with a blue blouse for Korra and a red one for Asami (They had both struggled not to laugh as Petuwaq handed them the colors, as if they were the most obvious choices in the world).  Then...Korra hesitated, then turned to the chest and took out one of the hide tops she had still been working on when they had stumbled onto the road.  It was unfinished, missing its sleeves and not stitched together down the front to seal it closed, but she pulled it on over the new shirt.  She looked at herself again in the mirror.  Vest?  She nodded.  Vest.  At the same time, Asami had pulled out the long wrap, sliding it over her shoulders and letting it hang down her back.  They looked at each other and saw the same idea in each other's eyes; they would learn and live in this new world, but they would not forget where they had come from.

 

Kunik burst through the door suddenly, talking rapidly and as energetically as if she expected Korra and Asami to respond.  With hardly a pause for breath she took in the sight of them, dressed in their new clothing, and she smiled and clapped her hands and pulled them both into a quick hug (Had they really just met her a day before?).  Then she caught sight of the fact that only the one bed had been slept in, with the other unruffled and clearly unused, and her smile slipped.  Just for one second.  Then it was back and she was shooing them out of the room again, towards where Petuwaq was waiting.  He had a prepared note written out for them, and he handed it to Asami.

 

"Would you like to go into town, to see what our land is like?"

 

Korra and Asami practically pushed him out of the house.

 

He guided them not towards the car that Kunik had driven them in yesterday, but towards a different one that was parked on the side of the road in front of the house.  _Two_ satomobiles?  They had not gotten an impression of extreme wealth from the kind people, their home had had little ostentation (Nothing at all like was on display at the Sate Estate), but to be able to afford two cars....that was when Korra looked around and noticed that almost every house on the street had a car parked beside it, some with two or even three.  Where they that common in this world?  Apparently so.  This one that Petuwaq apparently drove was a close sibling to Kunik's; the same sleek design and aesthetic simplicity, although its interior was noticeably more...lived in was the polite term that came to Asami's mind.  Grinning, Petuwaq beckoned them in (Apparently briefly disappointed that they both chose to sit in the back seat instead of one up front with him), then started and drove.  Almost instantly, however...

 

"Do you hear that?"  Asami asked.

 

"Hear what?" Korra replied.

 

"That whining noise coming from the engine every time it changes gears.....right there!  Did you hear it?"

 

"Uh...I think so?  Why?"

 

"It's not supposed to make that noise."

 

"These cars have all sounded different from the way they sound back home, maybe it's supposed to do that?"

 

"No, if that's not metal under stress then I've never heard it before."

 

"Petuwaq doesn't seem to mind"  Korra was right about that, Petuwaq had that same grin that he had sported since getting into the car.  For a moment, Korra recognize the exact same smug grin that she herself sported at every new accomplishment, and he briefly accelerated just a little bit harder.  "See, it's doing just fine."

 

"Maybe...(Another gear-change, another whine)...no, that's not right."

 

"Lighten up Asami, it's not like it's going to explode or....wait, it's _not_ going to explode, is it?"  After all that they had been through, Korra's sudden concern should not have been that surprising.  When Asami she hook her, she smiled again "So, it's not going to explode, and he's not bothered by it, so just relax.    You're missing the trip!  When we get to the town you can open up the engine and tinker to your hearts content, for now enjoy the view."  Korra reached up, grabbed Asami's chin, and turned her head to look out the window at everything they were passing.  After a moment of token resistance Asami allowed herself to be turned, smiling at the feel of Korra's hand on her face and taking in their first real look the lives of these people.  It was amazing how normal it all looked after only a little bit-by-bit acclimatization.  There was so much metal and glass everywhere, but they had already seen that those two materials were used much more heavily here than in their own world, and without that distraction they were able to pick out stores and restaurants and living spaces and all the indications of people being people....except...

 

"What are those little boxes everybody is carrying?" Asami noticed, only to get a shrug from Korra.  That was something she needed to ask about as soon as they stopped.

 

It took then only a few minutes to get to "town", and Petuwaq parked next to what was apparently a small park.  Getting out he posed next to the car, still with that same grin, and it was clear that he was boasting about the vehicle.  Korra was actually reminded of when she had first met Bolin and the way he had strutted in the Pro-Bending Arena after the Fire Ferrets won their match against the Tigerdillos, hoping to impress her.  Korra was willing to let him have the moment, but Asami grabbed their notepad and quickly wrote out "See the engine?"  He was more than willing to comply, and in no time had the hood of the car propped open for inspection.

 

After she gave the engine time to cool down, eyeing the unfamiliar design, Asami dug in and....it had been too long since she had been able to handle an engine, it felt like forever, and the feel of metal against her hands like this was almost as refreshing as their hot shower and soft bed had been.

 

"I'm not sure, but I think....what is _that_.....okay, so this connects with...."  Half of the parts were completely unknown to her, and she made sure not to move or manipulate anything that she could not identify (Especially not the pieces which looked electrical.  Why would a car _possibly_ need so many electrical parts?  What purpose could they serve?), but what she could identify was in such sorry condition she did not know whether to shake Petuwaq or thank him for giving her so much to work with.  Despite his pride in the car he clearly had no knowledge of engineering or maintenance, and she was reminded of the time one of the sons of one of her father's engineers had tried to show off and wound up getting stuck in the Future Industries assembly line.  Grinning, she settled in, and could not see the way Petuwaq's own grin slipped and he turned to Korra in confusion.

 

"Don't worry," she said, "your baby is in good hands...uh...I mean..." she struggled to remember the words, but Asami had been the one to practice (However briefly) with Joo Dee and Korra could barely remember how to say any of the English they had learned.  Opening the note pad she scribbled out the message that way.  Then she took Petuwaq's hand and pulled him away.  "She'll be hours just poking around.  Show me everything!"  He might not have understood the words, but the meaning was unmistakable, and his smile came back as he escorted her away, leaving Asami to fiddle to her heart's content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it since even I can't figure out how it's supposed to look from reading my description: Asami's hide garment that they made a few chapters ago is essentially supposed to be a trench coat (Or in that sort-of style, since of course they wouldn't make an actual trench coat in those circumstances). Over the shoulders and hanging down her back...get it? The functional idea is that it provides a lot of cover and protection when wrapped around her front for less material than making another complete outfit.
> 
> Just to help it make sense.


	33. Chapter 33

As Petuwaq let himself be dragged away by Korra, he glanced over his shoulder and lingered at the sight of Asami digging into the engine.  She seemed confident enough, but that car was _his_ baby. He had paid for it himself (Well, okay, his parents were helping with the monthly payments, but he had covered the entire deposit) and the thought of letting somebody pull it apart when he was not even there to watch over her tore at him.  Plus, how competent could she be if these two had been living in the woods after they snuck into the country?  He doubted that they had any kind of metalshop class back wherever they were from.

 

Still, Korra’s fingers were warm against his own ( _Very_ warm) and she was sporting a very excited grin beneath her wide, blue eyes, and the fears for his engine quickly faded away…well, almost.  There was no reason he could not show her around the park, first, and keep an eye on Asami at the same time before they walked off further into the town.

 

“So, here we’ve got the big city,  _Ville de Moores_ ”, and he gestured expansively, as if the entire town was his that he was presenting.  "Uh...this park is pretty much at the center of town, we can start here and work our way out.  There isn't a whole lot to see, but I can show you around."  As he was talking Korra was nodding, clearly not understanding a word he was saying, and he knew they could not keep speaking pidgin English back and forth.    "Remind me to stop by the book shop before we leave, I'll see if I can find a language book for...whatever you speak."  He repeated himself from before, gesturing again around them to get the point across " _Ville de Moores_ ".  She nodded again, hopefully in understanding this time, and he began walking again. _  
_

 

"Most of what there is to do around here is close by.  The movie theatre is down the block -- do you like movies? -- and they've usually got something new every week or two.    Uh...Reggie's Cafe is over there, they've got the best cake you've ever had, and...I kinda wish you could understand me now...."  His grin was a bit sheepish now, but Korra kept looking encouraging.  Then he glanced over his shoulder at the car (Just making sure it was not on fire or anything) and he had to struggle to keep from frowning.  Was that...oh, hell, was that John and Claire talking to Asami?  What did they want?  Turning, he shuffled back over (Not running of course, that would be ridiculous) to see what was going on.

 

"Hey John, hi Claire, what's up?"

 

"Oh, hey Pete.  How's it going?  We were just heading over to Reggie's and it looked like this woman was having some car trouble, but I don't think she speaks French."

 

"No, no trouble, this is my car.  I just gave them a ride to town and Asami wanted to take a look at the engine."  Realizing he had to make introductions now, he waved between the two pairs.  "Uh...this is Asami and Korra, they're...friends from out of town.  These are John and Claire, we went to high school together."  Asami and Korra dutifully shook hands, but they had clearly not understood the conversation.

 

"Out of town, huh?  Where from?"  Claire eyed the rough garments they wore over their clothing with what Petuwaq was sure was disdain.

 

"From...uh...China."  It was a reasonable guess, he was pretty sure they wrote in Chinese.  "They don't speak any French at all, just a little English."

 

"What brings them over?"  John was looking them over and Petuwaq guessed at his mental assessment; 'Two hot chicks who don't know anything'.

 

"Just visiting."  He wracked his brain for  _some_ kind of story, especially one which would not raise too many red flags since he was pretty sure they were here illegally.  "My mom actually knows their families, they worked together a while back, so they're staying with us for a while."

 

"Cool," John stepped up next to where Asami still stood before the exposed engine, "You're into cars?"  Asami did not answer, of course, but when he pointed to the engine she nodded and he leaned in next to her, sticking his head under the hood.  "Jeez Pete, no wonder she wanted to take a look at this thing, when's the last time you had this serviced?"  Petuwaq felt his face flush and was about to answer hotly, but John was already pointing at this-and-that and mumbling to Asami, who was nodding and mumbling back.  Apparently, the language of engines transcended any other knowledge barriers.

 

"So, Korra right?  Welcome to  _Ville de Moores_...uh... _Bienvenue à la Ville de Moores_ ," off Korra's blank look, Claire turned to Petuwaq again, "How  _do_ you guys talk?"

 

"Well, we're mainly on notes now, they know pretty good written English and so we've been going back and forth with that."  He pulled out one of the note pads they had been working with and handed it to Claire, who thought for a moment (It had been years since she took Conversational English) before scribbling out a message and passing it to Korra.  Korra read it and grinned, then took off the vest she was wearing and handed it to Claire, who felt it appreciatively.  Korra wrote out her own note and passed it back, and Claire gasped after reading it.

 

"Did you know she  _made_ this?  And Asami's coat?  I would kill to be able to do that!  What are they, fashion students?"

 

"Uh...." Now Petawuq had absolutely no clue what to say and just shrugged his shoulders. He opened his mouth to say something (What it was he had no idea), when he was interrupted by a loud crash from behind him.

 

Spinning around, he saw that a car had hopped the curb down the block and knocked over a trash can, and was still going right into the middle of the park.  It looked to be out of control.  Before he could even say anything, he felt wind buffet him and Korra dashed past, racing forward. She leapt and...his eyes had to be playing tricks on him, because it  _looked_ like she leapt across a hundred feet to reach the car, and that could not be right.  Maybe she had just caught up to it and jumped the last few feet? Yeah, that made more sense.  Well, however far she leapt, she reached the driver side door and seemed to pull it off the car and...no, that could not be right, either.  It must have been knocked loose when it plowed into the garbage can.  Reaching in she grabbed the driver, who must have been unconscious from the way Korra was shifting around, and then she leapt away again before the car came to a crunching halt.  Korra must have turned the wheel to force the car to come up against a small boulder jutting out of the ground, but Petawuq could not quite seem to remember there ever being a boulder there before.  Then he noticed everybody around them shouting and yelling, and he was running over to where Korra had the driver stretched out on the ground.

 

"What the  _hell_ was that?"  He could hear John shouting, "Is anybody calling 9-1-1?"

 

"I am, " Claire already had her phone up against her ear anxiously as she was swept up in the crowd rushing to the scene.  As they got closer, Petawuq recognized the old woman stretched on the ground.

 

"Oh my...it's Mrs. Roberts..." When Claire and John looked at him he explained, "She lives just a few houses down from me.  I...I think she's been sick recently," and she certainly looked it, pale and breathing in fast, shallow gasps.  Asami had made it there before him, and she already crouched next to Korra, who was....was she  _washing_  Mrs. Roberts?  That made even less sense than the giant leap he had most certainly not seen a few moments ago, and he shook his head to clear his vision, but  _this_ sight stayed and it still looked like Korra was rubbing water over her throat.  Unless...was it some kind of first-aid?  Mrs. Robert's breathing was steadier and her color looked better, but how...?  Then there was the distant sounds of an ambulance siren and he relaxed, glad that help was arriving.

 

As the ambulance pulled up the crowd parted so that they could get through, and the paramedics kneeled down besides Mrs. Roberts, asking questions of Korra and Asami at her side.  When they could only respond incomprehensibly, the paramedics looked around and Petawuq stepped forward, "Sorry, they don't speak French, they're only visiting."

 

"What happened?" One of the paramedics asked.

 

"I'm not sure, I only saw the very end.  It sounded like Mrs. Roberts car hopped the curb, and Korra managed to pull her out before she smashed into that boulder." He nodded to where the car was still run up against the rock.  Now that he looked at it, the ground around the rock was buckled as if the rock had just burst forth...no, it was probably just shaken from the impact.  The paramedics turned back to Mrs. Roberts and resumed their ministrations, and now there were more sirens approaching.  Police, he guessed.

 

As the crowed milled about, watching in horrified fascination, he noticed that Korra and Asami had been slowly edging away from the scene, doing their best to fade into the crowd as the sirens approached.  Suddenly he realized that they likely did not want to be around when the police arrived because of...whatever, and considering they were staying at his house  _he_ did not want to be around, either, but...what do they do?  He began to edge towards panic, until they reached him and Asami took his hand and continued to slowly and calmly walk backwards.  Clearly they knew how to act under pressure, as Asami's hand was cool and relaxed, and they guided him back until they reached where he had parked his car.  Still moving calmly, they all got in (He remembered to lower the hood) and they drove off as the police car arrived, to all appearances just another random car on the motorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, and here we've got our first complete fabrication, there is no _Ville de Moores_. To be honest I'm not very intimately familiar with the towns that border the forests of northern Quebec, and nothing frustrates me more than when somebody just grabs a name off Wikipedia for a place and I know about it and I think "I've been there, it's a freaking CITY, why are you making it a frontier wasteland?" So, we find ourselves in the _Ville de Moores_ , a small town in Quebec a few hours north of Montreal where Kunik and Petuwaq make their home, and Korra and Asami are running wild.
> 
> That should also point out that I've tried to be as scrupulously accurate in every point that I reasonably can. I got the layout wrong, but Station Alert really is a Canadian Forces base; it's the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world and is only 500 miles from the North Pole, so any kind of investigation or military venture in the area will need to stage from there. It's supplied by SuperHerc transports from CFB Toronto, and so on and so forth.
> 
> Hey, we've got the internet at our fingertips, the whole world at our beck and call, let's _use_ it!
> 
>  
> 
> I considered having somebody try to hassle Asami as she was working on the car, but I realized halfway into it that this would make two harassments in their only two exposures to the public for Korra and Asami. I know there are plenty of assholes out there, but I'm not some sort of misanthrope, and there's no need for that much hostility. I also feel like not enough stories have people who aren't friends for no explainable reason; usually it's that one person is evil (or a jerk) or there's a racial/class/religious/hobby/etc. divide, but sometimes people just don't gel well together. Nobody's fault, but there's friction. So, instead of another evil guy, it's just two people that Petuwaq doesn't get along with. .....drama?


	34. Chapter 34

"Mom?" Petuwaq called out as they walked in the door, "We're home!"

 

"Back already?" Kunik replied. "It's only been an hour, with the way they dragged you of here I thought you'd be out all day."

 

"Yeah, well, things didn't quite go to plan."

 

"Oh?" She looked them over; Korra and Asami were chatting nonchalantly (What could they talk about so constantly with each other? Did they not eventually grow tired of having only one other person to speak with?), but Petuwaq looked like he was in shock. When she remembered what had happened at the gas station within hours of her picking the two of them up (And which suddenly seemed a lot less wonderful now that they were actually staying in her house with her son), her tension rose. "What happened?"

 

"Nothing, or...I'm not sure. You know Mrs. Roberts from down the block?"

 

"Of course. She's not doing so well now, Janine told me they're planning to start chemotherapy soon and the poor woman's not handling it smoothly. Why? What happened?" She asked again.

 

"I took them over to the Green, give them a chance to look at the town, and Mrs. Roberts had an accident. Maybe she passed out behind the wheel? I don't know, whatever it was she lost control and her car shot straight into the center of the Green."

 

"Oh my god, was anybody hurt?"

 

"No, that's the thing. Korra actually climbed onto the car and pulled her out before they crashed and I guess she knows first aide? But...after the ambulance got there they both backed away once the cops started to arrive, they really didn't want to get picked up, so I drove them back here." He was twitching now, nervous. "I think they...uh...I think they might be in hiding."

 

Kunik sighed and leaned back in her seat to stare at the ceiling. What had she been _thinking_? Inviting two complete strangers to spend the night after meeting them that very same day? After she had already seen them beat up some guy they had never even met before? Never mind that he was a racist creep and she would have liked to smack him herself, what had spurred her to expose her home to people like that?  What was she going to tell Henri when he called later that evening?  Now learning that they are actually on the run, not just lost in the woods, added to her realization from this morning.....

 

"Petuwaq, honey...maybe we should help them get back on the road. If they're on the run then they probably don't want to be in one place too long, and now that they've attracted attention..." She trailed off and from his expression it was clear that her subterfuge was painfully transparent.

 

"Mom, we can't kick them out because they _helped_ somebody. We left before any of the cops showed up and...and...and like we said this morning, they probably don't have anything to go back to. They were living in the woods when you found them! It's not a big deal, nobody knows who they are, it'll just be a Good Samaritan mystery for people to talk about for a few days." He was earnest, especially compared to the surly resistance he had put up when she had first mentioned letting them stay the night when they had spoken during her drive home yesterday (Before he had lain eyes on them), and it was painfully obvious that he was smitten and thinking with all of the Wisdom of his nineteen years. She wanted to argue more, particularly to dissuade him from his fruitless romantic ideals, but she also still felt that little thrill from seeing that creep topple to the ground, a tiny salve on a lot of old wounds from her childhood. They did seem like very nice young women in general, and....

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell, and Petuwaq jumped up to answer it (And presumably win the argument by dint of having the literal last word), "Trust me, no problems at all, nobody knows they're here." When he opened the door to see John and Claire standing there he would have sworn that he actually **heard** a cartoon voice saying 'You just haaaaad to say it'.

 

* * *

 

 

"Uh...hey guys, what brings you by?"  He had hoped that after they had all graduated the year before he would not have had to deal with these two outside of running into them in town, what were they doing at his house?  Especially now?

 

"You tore out of the Green so fast we didn't get a chance to say good-bye, or to talk to Korra.  That was _insane_ what she did, I didn't know anybody could move like that."  Claire's voice was flush and her eyes were practically glowing.

 

"Yeah, we wanted to make sure she was okay and see what was going on.  Why'd you take off like that?"  John was clearly a little calmer, and if he was not actively suspicious he had definitely noticed the way they had vanished as the sirens drew closer.

 

"They're both still new in town and didn't want to deal with the police, I don't think those things go very well back home."  Petuwaq carefully restrained himself from cheering after he finally had an easy answer to a question about his mysterious houseguests.  "So, I brought them home so we could get lunch and tune down a bit."

 

"Ah, that's cool." John was smiling now,  "Glad everything's okay."

 

"Listen, we get it if they still need to decompress, but we were planning to head over to the garage after we had gone to Reggie's, and Asami seemed like that was really her thing.  Did you guys want to come?  It'll give her a chance to really get her hands dirty instead of poking at an engine with a stick, and they can meet some of the other guys." Claire's glow had dimmed, and now she seemed almost nervous.  "Is...is Korra a gearhead, too?"

 

Petuwaq opened his mouth to respond and realized the he actually had no idea if Korra was into cars as well.  He had not known Asami was until just ten minutes before these two had learned it.  Should he lie to keep up the impression that they were friends?  Which answer _was_ a lie?  He had expected things to go a whole lot smoother when he was convincing his mother that it would be easy to cover for them.

 

"I'm actually not sure, they only got here yesterday and we're still butting heads over languages."  He resolved that, when you did not even know what would be a lie if you had decided to lie, it was probably a better decision to go with the truth.  "I'll check with them but I'm sure they'd love to go, they were really eager to go out this morning.  Come on in."  He stepped aside and waved them in, then left them to chat with his mom as he walked back towards the guest room.  As he approached he heard them talking in their strange language (It did not sound like any dialect of Chinese he had ever heard, but he was only going off of Hong Kong action movies for reference) and they seemed unusually subdued.  Maybe regretting attracting so much attention?  Shrugging, he knocked on the door and walked in after a pause, turning to face them sitting together on one of the beds.  Taking out the notepad (He belatedly remembered that he had forgotten to stop by the book shop for a language book before leaving the Green.  Maybe he could Google something later?) he wrote out Claire's invite to visit her family's garage.

 

This note apparently proved a lot harder to translate than he had expected (Where had they learned to read and write English if they had not come across such a relatively common word as 'garage'?), but after they had brought out what seemed to be an English/Chinese dictionary Asami practically launched herself to her feet, babbling in her own tongue before remembering to write out the response ('Yes', of course).  Quickly, she and Korra raced out of their room and Petuwaq followed behind, confident that he learned one thing definitively: Asami **really was** a gearhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not quite sure how I should be responding to comments. Should I say 'thank you' to every single person saying you like the fic? Answering questions? Correcting theories? Arguing over intentions? I'm in a bit, should I say more? Say less?
> 
> Whatever the proper procedure is, know that I am so appreciative of everybody who takes the time to write out a comment. Whether you are saying that you like the story, or where you think it will go, or why you think certain things have happened, the fact that you care even enough to just type out a smiley-face is fantastic.


	35. Chapter 35

As Petuwaq drove Korra and Asami to John and Claire's family garage -- And maybe John had been onto something when he said the engine should have been looked at sooner, since the car really was riding more smoothly even though that did not make any sense since Asami had just been poking at it for ten minutes and she did not even have any tools -- he reflected that he had never actually **been** there before himself.  Driven past it a thousand times, yes (In _Ville de Moores_ it was next to impossible not to pass by everything else when going somewhere), and he was pretty sure this was where his dad took his car for service, but he had never even been inside the office, let alone hung out in the body shop itself.  Why were they inviting them over?  What was going on?  As they pulled into the small parking lot beside the entrance, which already had several cars parked there, he looked in through the open service bay door and recognized a lot of the other people he had hoped that he would not have had to deal with after high school.  Some had their heads buried in the bodies of cars they were working on, others seemed to just be lounging around and chatting.

 

As they were all climbing out, Korra looking about in frank curiosity and Asami with a look of glee on her face, Jeanson ran out of the garage and practically leapt into John's arms, with the two of them making a inordinate amount of warm, cooing sounds.  "Hey babe, what took you so long?  I thought you two were just going to grab something to eat before you came by?"  Petuwaq relaxed a little at seeing her there; Jeanson had always been a lot easier to get along with than most of this crowd.

 

"We got a little...sidetracked.  Ran into Pete on the Green and some new friends."  John waved the three of them over.  "This is Korra and Asami...I've got that right, right?  Yeah, Korra and Asami, they're staying with Pete, and Asami's a kindred spirit, so we invited them along.  Plus, Pete's Honda could really use some work and I thought we could pitch in."

 

Korra and Asami were looking at the embrace between John and Jeanson, then between John and Claire, with a look of minor confusion, then they shrugged as Jeanson turned to them.

 

"Very nice to meet you, I'm Jeanson...uh...do you speak French? ("No, they don't, they're from China") Oh..... **Jeanson**."  She pointed to herself and Petuwaq winced as she began to almost shout the name, " **I'm JEANSON"**   But thankfully Korra and Asami were not shocked by the shouting and they smiled as they shook her hand.  "How do you guys speak to each other?"

 

"Believe it or not, we pass notes." Claire said, "It's like we're back in school again, we write out everything, but it's gotta be in English."

 

"Cool, low-tech texting.  I can work with that.  Hey Pete, good to see you.   What's the story?  How've you been?"  And she pulled him into a hug, although much less intense than with John.

 

"I've been good.  I was just showing them around town when we ran into John and Claire, they only got here yesterday so I was giving them the grand tour."

 

"That must have taken ten whole minutes, yeah?  Come on, let's introduce them around."  And Jeanson lead them all back inside.

 

Introductions were made all around, with people pulling themselves out from underneath the cars or off the walls (When had this become a social club?), and then John and Jeanson pulled Asami towards one of the cars down towards the end of the shop that looked like it had been completely cleaned out.  Petuwaq thought he recognized it, maybe that had been what John used to drive, but now it was in so many pieces that it was just a random jigsaw puzzle, and they practically shoved Asami face-first into all the parts as they began to clean and shift and assemble and do....whatever it was that people did with car parts.  After pumping gas and checking the oil level, Petuwaq had to fall back on the old standbys of just smiling and nodding.  Finding his own spot on the wall to lean against casually, he did his best to keep a wide eye on what was going on and zone out.  Next to him Korra seemed to be doing the same thing, although she was a lot more focused, and he was glad at the non-mechanic company.

 

* * *

 

 

"So, Korra, what brings you two to _Ville de Moores_?  Oh, crap, right, let me have that notepad Pete?"  Claire had sidled up next to where they were leaning casually, and re-wrote the question.  At Korra's scribbled response she smiled.  "Seeing the world, huh?  I can't tell you how often I've wished to see just about anyplace but here....but to you, I suppose this probably is 'anyplace but here', isn't it? ....ugh, I've got to remember...." and she hastily re-wrote what she had said.  Aside to Pete she said, "I don't know if you've already got plans for it, but it'd probably be a lot easier if we could actually talk."  Turning back to Korra, she wrote out another note.  "Do you like engines as well?" and waved at the shop around them.

 

Smiling, Korra shook her head and pointed over to where Asami seemed to be having the time of her life.  Like back at the Green with John, apparently the language of metal needed no translators and there was a small passel of people looking over her shoulder as she did....something....to....something.

 

"That's cool.  I grew up here so oil's in my blood, but John was the one who **really** dug in, I just help out on the weekends and when my mom's out of town.  What...uh...what _is_ your thing, then?"  Korra hesitated before writing, as if unsure what to say, but Claire figured it must have just been a translation issue since she opened what looked like a dictionary and began flipping through.  Eventually, she wrote out a single word and handed the note back.

 

"Wushu?"  She turned to Petuwaq in confusion.  "What's 'wushu'?"

 

"Uh....kung fu, I think.  Or...maybe that's what they call it when they fight with kung fu?  I'm not exactly sure."  He had definitely heard the term before, but badly-dubbed martial arts films were not exactly good reference materials.

 

Claire's mind flashed back to the sight of Korra boarding a runaway car and saving its driver like in an action movie, "Oh my god, that's awesome.  No wonder she could move like that, she was practically flying.  Can she....can you show me something?"  At the request Korra's face lit up, but then she frowned and waved at all of the equipment clustered around them, and even without a translation it was clear that it would have meant breaking something (Either metal or bone) if they tried anything in the garage itself.  "It's okay, we've got a lot of space out back", and grabbing Korra's hand, Claire lead her out the back exit.  Petuwaq was not sure if he should follow or not, but then John walked back over talking about taking a look at his car, and as he pulled out the keys Korra and Claire were already gone.

 

Outside, in a wide empty lot behind the garage that had a few old, rusting cars on one side, there was plenty of wide open space and soft grass.  "Come on, show me what you've got," and Claire stepped back to give Korra room to demonstrate.

 

Korra paused to take a look around, then bent over to take off her shoes.  "Uh...that might not be a good idea.  We don't do any work out here, but there's probably still some broken glass and screws scattered around."  Even after the note had been passed, though, Korra just smiled and kept going, and soon she was standing barefoot in the middle of lot.  She stretched briefly, limbering up, then tossed Claire her vest to free up her movement and did not notice the way Claire's eyes seemed drawn to the way her clothing was stretched tightly.  Closing her eyes for a moment, she began to move and....wow.

 

At the Green Korra had been **fast** , it had been like watching a dynamo in motion the way she had instantly dashed off after the car in Hero Mode, but now she was _smooth_.  Her arms came up and arced together, tracing circles in the air as she took wide steps, sliding across the ground.  She spun around and her stance shifted, and she changed from one instant to the next like water.  That was the only way Claire could think of to describe it, that she was flowing like water, and she could half-imagine that there were ribbons of water streaming around in response to her movements.  She was not sure how long the dance went on for (It could not have been more than a few minutes, although it felt like hours), but when Korra slowed to stillness Claire's eyes were glowing like they had earlier after seeing the rescue, and her voice was heated as she said ".... _wow_ ".  That was all she _could_ have said.  Korra turned to her with a quirked eyebrow, clearly asking for a comment, and after a stunned silence she asked "Could you show me another?"

 

Happy to oblige, Korra re-centered herself and began moving again.


	36. Chapter 36

As he drove home later that day, Petuwaq reflected that the entire affair had gone a lot better than he expected.  John had put his car up on the lift and done something underneath it (Saying words like "axle" and "steering rack" and other gibberish) and now it was moving as smoothly as his mother's, and all along he had just accepted the rough ride as an unavoidable consequence of a used car.  Asami had been right beside him (Along with Bill Smither, who Petuwaq actually did not know very well) tinkering, and did everybody know how to do these things besides himself?  Korra had spent most of the afternoon with Claire, he assumed showing off her kung fu, and she and Asami had even started picking up a few words of French (Although that morning Petuwaq never would have guessed that the first words he understood Asami say would be 'power steering').  They had all received an invitation to return the next morning, and he was actually looking forward to it.  In the back seat, Korra and Asami were talking cheerfully and excitedly, clearly they had enjoyed the day completely.

 

As he pulled up in front of his house, looking forward to lying down and relaxing no matter how non-unpleasant the day had been, he could see his mom pacing through the front window, agitatedly talking to somebody on the phone, and what was...it had completely slipped his mind that his father always called home on Sunday night, and he was probably freaking out over the news that they had two strange women living with them.  Petuwaq sighed internally; he had actually expected that and pointed it out to his mom when they were talking on the phone yesterday, but he had lost focus after they had arrived and he saw what his mother meant by 'two very nice young women'.  Things were tight enough as they were, especially with the cost of outfitting his sister last month when she started her research project, and his dad was likely pointing out even just the cost of more food.  Well, it was not like they would be staying there forever or anything, and he was already planning on getting a summer job the next week, so things would be okay.  His mom would probably have everything all calmed down and settled in a few minutes.

 

Leading Korra and Asami inside, he made a "shush!" motion and crept past his mother, reaching for the notepad and....no, this was getting ridiculous, he had not done this much handwriting since primary school and his fingers were beginning to cramp.  Plus, he was starting to get a headache from struggling to carry on a full conversation in English (At least he was getting plenty of practice).  Instead, he went over to the computer they had set up in the living room, planning to use the time-honored and reverent tool gifted to the current generation: Google (With handy translation software).  He sat down and--he was nearly bowled over when Korra and Asami both jerked in their own seats as he began to use the computer, staring at the screen in shock as if they had never seen anything like it before.  They knew how to build a car engine but had never seen a computer monitor?  No, that could not be it, he had seen them not react at TVs during the day and...were they reacting at the _control_ he had over the screen?  They had sat down calmly enough, it was only when he had opened a new browser window that they reacted.  Slowly, he reached out and touched the mouse, and when the cursor moved on the screen they both jerked again.  Suddenly they were both crowding close, nearly climbing on top of him, inspecting the computer.

 

"Jesus, what _is_ the story with you two?"

 

They seemed completely mystified, touching the screen as if expecting to be able to actually pick up the cursor and surprised to find it glass, then turning to him for an explanation.  "It's a computer.  A com--okay, this won't get us anywhere, hold on."  He opened the Google Translate page and dutifully typed out "It's a computer.  Have you never seen a computer before?" which quickly became " _Il se agit d' un ordinateur. Avez-vous jamais vu un ordinateur avant_?"  They both shook their heads, and at his indication Asami reached for the keyboard, slowly typing out "We have seen your moving pictures, but not one you can control like this."  When the words appeared on-screen as she typed they both seemed even more shocked than they had before.  "How is this done?"

 

Petuwaq's detailed computer knowledge was only _slightly_ more advanced than his car knowledge, but he figured he could at least give the basics.  "It's a machine, like a car, but it can think in some ways.  You tell it what to do and it follows your commands, and connects to other machines around the word."  Truth be told, he mainly used it for watching funny videos on YouTube, but they did not need to know that...actually, why not?  "Here, let me show you." but before he could show them the wonders of the latest meme, his mom knocked on the door and stuck her head in.

 

"Petuwaq, can I see you for a second?"

 

"Uh, sure, mom," and he left them to fiddle with the computer.  As he walked into the next room he saw them filling up the translation text-box to overflowing, watching the translation come out as it went.

 

"Was that dad?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  "How bad was it?"

 

"Not _too_ bad, all things considered.  He should be home on Tuesday and we can go over it then, once I explained that they had nowhere to go he calmed down a bit.  Just...don't mention to him that they might be fugitives or anything, let's let him ease into that."

 

"No problem, and I don't actually _know_ that they're on the lam, maybe they just didn't want to deal with the fame of being heroes...."  His mom's look made it clear that she did not buy that idea any more than he did.  "Okay, keeping quiet on the 'running from the law' bit.  How about everything else?"

 

"I told him what we know, and hopefully by the time he gets home we can get with a translator or something to clear everything up."

 

"I actually just started on that, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.  Google, you know?"

 

"Excellent, that should help.  How were they today?"  And she nodded towards the other room, where they could still hear the clicking of the keyboard.

 

"Great, actually.  They really hit it off with the whole gang over at the garage, we're probably going to head back tomorrow."

 

"Good, I've always liked the Soucys, I've never understood why you always had friction with their kids, they were so sweet.  But won't the shop actually be open tomorrow?  Is Mr. Soucy okay with you going over during business hours?"

 

"I...uh...didn't talk to Mr. Soucy, I didn't see him.  But John said it was fine, and if it's a problem...well, we can just come home."

 

"Okay.  Anyway, it's getting late, wash up for dinner and bring them to the kitchen in a few minutes."

 

When Petuwaq walked back into the room he saw that they had switched the translation from French/English to English/Chinese (How had they figured that out so quickly?) and Asami seemed to running through a test of the system.  She had the dictionary they were using held open and was typing out individual English words, then comparing the computer results with the dictionary, and then repeating with different words.  Making sure it was accurate?  Trying to catch it in a mistake?  Trying to stump it?  She had already lost her expression of surprise at the computer and was instead extremely focused, as if she was used to stuff like this her whole life and was just running it through its paces.  Just what _was_ her background?  Korra sat close beside her, and Petuwaq noticed that she had her arm wrapped around Asami's waist, resting her head on Asami's shoulder and----HOLY CRAP----only the fact that he was inhaling so dramatically kept him from saying some word of shock as he realized what he was seeing.  He stared at them for a minute as Asami opened a new window (She had already learned how to work the program?  Seriously, who _were_ these people?) before he found his voice again.

 

"Uh...we're...we're going to have dinner in a few minutes.  We should get ready."

 

And he stepped aside as they walked past, fingers intertwined.


	37. Chapter 37

It was only their second day waking up in this house, but Korra and Asami already felt familiar as the smell of cooking drew them out of bed, the same cooking from the day before.  Once again Kunik was scraping off strips of 'bacon' onto plates along with eggs and juice, and even just having had it once the day before made it seem like everything was not so strange.  However, this time Kunik was already dressed in what they could recognize was more formal clothing than she had been wearing the previous days, and seemed to be working a little bit faster.  After the by-now-normal exchange of notes, Petuwaq said "Mom has to go back to work today, she had time off to go visit my sister."

 

The mention of going to work, with all of the implications for money of economy, suddenly made them both realize that they had been taking from these nice people for two days already, and if they stayed it would likely be for much longer.  Should they get jobs to repay them?  What kind of jobs?  Neither of them had ever held normal jobs before (Being the Avatar did not exactly come with a salary, and CEO of a major company was quite different from working for somebody else), and in this strange world what could they do?  Did any of their skills apply?  How did somebody get a job here?  That was something they would have to deal with, and fast; their impression from the day before that they were not a wealthy family had been borne out throughout the day, and they did not want to place an unreasonable burden.  Still, 'fast' did not necessarily mean 'immediately', and after breakfast Petuwaq again drove them over towards John and Claire's garage.  Both Korra and Asami had loved the previous day; being with a group of people again, able to work and talk (Albeit still with difficulty and delay) and have fun for the day, was an indication of how things could be normal, that this world was not just divided into hostile environments or inhibiting military bases.  There were people here who lived their own lives.

 

As their car was parked (And even Korra could tell how much better it drove now, and she could feel Asami's satisfaction with her work from the day before) they noticed that the garage was different today.  The parking lot was almost empty, but there were more cars in the service bay itself, and the crowd of people milling about was absent.  Instead, there were only a few people working on cars, almost all older, and they all wore the same style clothing, like a uniform.  One of them waved, and as they got closer they could recognize Huan from the day before--no, not 'Huan', _John_.  They each made an effort to focus on the exact pronunciation, if they were going to live in this world they could not continue to just parallel the names with similar sounds that they were used to.  He spoke to Petuwaq, calling him 'Peet' instead like they had noticed a lot of people do the day before, then waved them all forward into what looked like an office on the side of the work area.  Within was an older man that they immediately pegged as John's father, the resemblance was unmistakable, who sat behind a desk and wore the same uniform as the people out in the loading bay.  Smiling, introductions were made around (he was apparently 'Mister Soucy') and they were all seated as he spoke to Petuwaq--also calling him 'Peet'.  Korra and Asami could not follow the conversation (The few words Asami had picked up were mainly satomobile terminology), but it seemed genial enough, even complimentary with the way John was smiling as he nodded towards Asami.  Eventually, with smiles all around, Korra, Asami and Petuwaq all left, with the three off them following John out the other side of the office to another room; if they had to guess a waiting room given all of the chairs and what seemed to be magazines scattered around, and one of the moving pictures (Kunik had called it a 'TV') against one wall.  Claire was waiting there, and when she saw them walk in she stood up with a hopeful expression, and at John's nod she walked over and gave each of them each a welcoming hug.  And if she maybe lingered just a little bit longer on Korra's hug than anybody else, nobody noticed.  They spoke briefly, then a note was written out and passed.

 

"The garage is open for business now, we need to stay out of the way of the working mechanics, but we are welcome to spend the day."

 

Korra and Asami both nodded in agreement, but then hesitated when John seemed about to go back to the garage while Claire stayed in the waiting room.  They had split apart the last time they were here, as Asami worked with the cars and Korra demonstrated outside, but to separate again?  After everything that had happened.....Asami laughed and nudged Korra softly.  "Go ahead, you're going to be bored if you just stand behind me and watch me watch John work all day.  Have fun!"  And Asami followed John back inside to where he had been working on a car when they had arrived, with Petuwaq trailing behind.  Turning back to Claire, who seemed to be waiting for Korra to say something, Korra just grinned and pointed towards the rear of the building.  With the way Claire had been so fascinated by the bending forms yesterday Korra expected her to want to see more, and was surprised that she had apparently had no training at all.  With the way Claire had fixated on the forms Korra would have expected her to have studied _something_ , and she had seen in the gym at the military base that they did have some kind of training in this world.  Still, there were few things Korra found as fulfilling as her bending, even if she was not actually bending anything, and she relished the opportunity to practice and demonstrate.

 

"Shall we?"

 

Claire nodded enthusiastically and guided her out to the same area they had practiced yesterday.  She had also set up a pair of small folding chairs, apparently expecting them to wind up here again, but Korra stopped her when she went to sit down to observe.  Instead, Korra pulled her out into the space with her, placing her right in the center.  "Here, do it with me this time," she said and gave what she hoped was a reassuring look at Claire's sudden nervousness.  "It's okay, we'll go slow."  Korra knew that Claire could not actually understand her, but as they had discovered so often over the past month, tone conveyed a lot, and Claire visibly relaxed as she spoke.  The day before Korra had worked through all four of the primary bending styles when Claire had asked for a demonstration, but she wanted to work with waterbending when introducing Claire to the forms.  The smooth, even, calming progression would help with her nervousness.  Standing next to her, Korra assumed a waterbending form stance, and waited for Claire to mimic her.

 

"Not so rigid, water is the element of change, you need to be ready to adapt to many things." She reached over and took hold of Claire's hands, spreading them out a bit, and repositioned her feet for a wider stance, then she placed her palm against the flat of Claire's back to shift her posture.  "Don't worry, we're just getting started," Korra tried to reassure her as her breathing sped up a little bit.  Nodding in approval at Claire's new stance, Korra resumed her own next to her.  "Now, watch me."  Slowly, even more slowly than usual so as not to lose her, Korra shifted through the form progression; her right leg came in and slid out again, reorienting her in another direction, as her arms lowered from their guard and reversed position.  It was a very simple maneuver, essentially just changing which direction you faced in your stance, but the progressive shift was one of the essential parts of the flowing nature of waterbending.  Turning, she nodded for Claire to try it and....she was bad.  Very, very bad.  Every single movement was jerky and twitchy and Claire's face was so flushed Korra wondered if she might actually start firebending to get the heat out.  She made sure to smother a laugh before it even reached the back of her throat.  "Look, try to relax, you don't need to get it right away, it's okay.  Here, let me help," and Korra stepped up behind Claire and reached her arms around to take hold of her hands.  "Like this" and Korra applied a little pressure to move her arms into the proper position.  Claire's breathing somehow grew even more rapid, but she allowed herself to be guided as if willing to let Korra have complete control.  "Excellent, just like that, now do it again."  Korra stepped back to get a view and watched Claire try it again and...it was really bad again, maybe even _worse_ , as if Claire was having trouble even remembering how to properly move her arms.  This time Korra could not _quite_ keep the laughter down completely, but she did her best to disguise it with a cough.  Apparently it was not good enough, as Claire's gaze dropped and she somehow turned even redder.

 

"Are you okay?  Why don't we...uh...take a break?"  Korra pointed over to the chairs that Claire had set up, and Claire nodded gratefully, sinking down into one with a gasp that sounded like she had been doing heavy labor for hours, and not just a few minutes of a single form.  Seeing a notepad on the table, Korra grabbed one and wrote out, "Are you okay?"  At this point it did not seem physically possible for Claire to have gotten any redder, and she did not (quite), but Korra could tell she was trying.  She did not respond right away, but then grabbed a notepad and hastily scrawled "I'm fine" before turning to the side and looking away.

 

Now Korra was actually concerned (Was she ill?), and with her right hand held down the side of her chair, hopefully blocked from all view, she began to draw a small stream of water into the palm of her hand.  Not a lot, barely more than a few drops.  Reaching out with her left hand she took hold of Claire's shoulder and turned her around, then brought up her right hand and to lay it flat against her forehead.  Claire reacted as if she had been struck when Korra touched her, but she did not draw away from the feel of Korra's skin on hers as Korra tried to ease the heat running through her.  A minute later Korra lowered her hand, "Feeling better?"

 

Claire's eyes were wide and moist, as if brimming with tears, and she managed a jerky nod before lurching to her feet and running back inside.

 

Korra was about to follow her, but...but.  That was all that came to her mind and so she stayed where she was, and five minutes later Claire came out with two glasses and a pitcher of water.  Pouring a glass for each of them, Claire drank hers down rapidly and filled her glass again, sipping more slowly this time, as Korra sat next to her and waited for her to say something.  After a few more minutes of silence, Claire stood back up and walked out to the open area and resumed the form stance.  She held it for a moment, took a deep breath to steady herself, and then quickly went through the progression.  It was far from perfect (Too rushed, too stiff), but infinitely better than it had been before, and Korra nodded in approval.  "Excellent.  Now, do it again to show me that it wasn't a fluke", and Claire's expression lit up the yard as she worked through the shift again.


	38. Chapter 38

Within the garage, John had lead Asami and Petuwaq back over to the car that he had been working on when they arrived, handing out introductions to the other workers as they passed.  When he leaned back in, apparently connecting some sort of unfamiliar device to the engine, Asami had a minor epiphany: _That_ was why there were so many electronic parts in these cars.  It had made no sense yesterday when she saw _so many_ cables and strange devices, but if they were thinking machines like the computer...for a brief instant her eyes lost focus as her mind ran down the limitless pathways of what you could do with something like that.  A transmission that could judge how or when to shift gears, or how to apply pressure for deceleration, or...were there cars here that could give directions?  Report on their own problems and maintenance?  Drive themselves?  Yesterday she had loved just the feel of metal in her hands, the sensation of _doing_ something.  No less than Korra she relished being active, being able to change the world around her, and being out in the woods for so long with none of the tools or equipment she was familiar with had been as much of a disconnect as their separation from their home.  To come here and have a chance to be busy with her hands, even on cars as strange as these, was almost like being home.  Now, though, when she realized all the possibilities, she wanted to learn _everything_ , not just work for the sake of working, and she crowded next to John to watch what he was doing.  Petuwaq hung back a bit, eyes already getting the faraway look of somebody resigning himself to waiting out a topic he had no knowledge of, but Asami grabbed his hand and pulled him over as well (Albeit making sure not to pull in too closely to John; she realized that this was a professional job he was doing now, not the fun of the day before, and she did not want to jostle him).  There was no reason he could not learn how his own vehicles worked.  When he saw them both attending, John began pointing to the different pieces of equipment he was working with, naming them and miming what they were good for.

 

A lot of it was lost on Asami because of the language barrier and her unfamiliarity with the base technology, and a lot of it was lost on Petuwaq because of his general mechanical ignorance, but they made do as best they could.  As near as she could figure, the device John was using was actually performing a diagnostic itself; by attaching it to the engine it could say what parts were not working or needed to be replaced.  That device alone nearly made Asami's head spin, imagining just how much more smoothly repairs could go if you did not need to spend half an hour taking the car apart to find the problem.  Behind her she could hear what sounded like Claire briefly coming inside from the back area before heading out again, but she was too focused to really notice as she tried to follow everything being done.

 

The hours passed quickly, and before she knew it they were stopping for lunch, eaten in another small room off to the side (She had not realized just how big this building was) and joined by Korra and Claire.

 

"How'd she do?" Asami asked, inclining her head slightly towards Claire.

 

"Not too bad, once she eased into it.  I think she's been wanting to do something like this for a long time, when we started she was **so** nervous, but she's calmed down and is moving a lot more smoothly.  If I can just keep her relaxed I don't think she'll have any problems.  And if I can't...well, we can just switch to firebending and put that energy to good use.  How about you?"

 

"There's so much I never thought of in these cars, it's amazing the possibilities that they have with these computers.  I've already got so many new ideas.  If I can figure out how they work I can completely revolutionize Future Industries when we get home, this will be even bigger than the airplane."  There was no hesitation at all when she said 'when we get home', to Asami it was clearly a question if 'when', not 'if', and she wanted to be ready for it.  "There are computers in **everything** here and--What's that?"

 

On the other side of the table, Claire was staring down at the small rectangle everybody seemed to carry -- They had realized the day before that these were somehow portable phones -- and seemed to be trying to restrain herself from cheering.  Quickly, she passed it over to John and Petuwaq and they both reacted similarly, then they passed it over to Asami.  She stared it briefly in confusion, then turned it over and--it had a picture on the other side, what looked like a very blurry shot of the park where Petuwaq had taken them yesterday morning.  What was so amazing about a blurry picture?  In fact, why was it so blurry, all the other pictures they had seen here were so clear.  Then John reached over and touched the picture (Not a button Asami realized, but the picture itself) _and it began to move_.  She started and nearly flung the phone against a wall before she realized that this must be a portable TV (But _how_?) and she found herself looking at a moving picture like they had seen several times before.  There was a young boy in the screen, apparently trying very hard to take a few steps, and Asami did not quite understand what was so amazing about this (Rather, she wondered what was so amazing about the _content_ , since the technology was staggering) when suddenly there was a loud noise and the picture became very jerky as the camera was swung around and...Asami realized they were actually seeing the car crash from the day before as she caught sight of the car heading almost straight towards the camera, and then there was an indistinct blur of motion and Korra could be seen climbing onto the side, pulling out the driver, and the car came to its sudden stop.  Turning the picture towards Korra, Asami touched the screen as she had seen John do and the recording started over again, and Korra saw herself perform the rescue again.  Grinning sheepishly, Korra shrugged as if to say "No big deal" and passed the phone back over to Claire, who was staring at her with an expression that seemed akin to worship.

 

"I didn't see any kind of recording equipment or cameras in the park yesterday, did you?" Korra asked Asami.

 

"No, I didn't either.  Maybe...it must be like everything else they have, their mover cameras are so small that we can't even see them, like we can't even see the projectors in the TVs.  I wonder what they even look like?"  Asami suddenly frowned as a new thought struck her.  "Korra, that means we might be being watched at any time, and who knows who is seeing this recording?  The military is probably still looking for us, and who knows who else might come after us if they see you bending?    I think we need to really start keeping a low profile."

 

Korra looked shocked, like she could not quite believe what she had just heard.  "Are you saying I should have not helped yesterday?"

 

"What?  No!  Absolutely not, I would never say that.  We can never stand by and let something bad happen, we just need to be careful.  I'll see if I can figure out how their cameras work so we can avoid them, and you need to keep from bending if possible.  Just until we know what the whole world is like."

 

"And if I _can't_ keep from bending?"  Korra's question might have come out as a challenge if she had not heard the concern in Asami's own voice.

 

"Then you can't.  If we can help somebody here then we should, as soon as we start putting our secrets above somebody else's lives....that's when I become my father.  And I could never do that."  Asami was quiet now, almost whispering, and Korra reached out to take her hand, squeezing tightly in reassurance.  On the other side of the table John, Claire and Petuwaq were engrossed in re-watching the video, apparently oblivious to their conversation, and in a few minutes they were all back to eating.

 

When they had finished lunch, Asami took out her notepad and wrote out a message, "How was that recording made?"

 

Claire and John seemed very confused by the question, but Petuwaq explained something to them and, after they briefly stared at Korra and Asami and looked even _more_ confused, Claire took out her phone again.  She touched the screen several times, then turned it around to point it at Asami and--Asami could see Claire on the screen, with her arm extended holding up the phone, as if the phone _was_ the camera and also the display....and Asami realized that that was exactly what was happening.  She snatched the phone out of Claire's hands and turned it over, noticing the small glass lens on the back of the phone, and she realized that that must be the camera, and that meant...

 

"I think we can forget what I just said about avoiding the cameras, almost _everybody_ had one of these."  She passed it back to Claire, who was about to put it away, but then hesitated and pointed it at Korra and Asami.  She motioned with her arms, and Korra realized that she was planning to take their picture, and so she leaned in right next to Asami, grinning widely, as the phone made a * _click_ * sound.  Claire looked at the screen for a second and then turned it around again, and they both looked at the picture of the themselves.

 

"Wow," Asami said, a camera **that** small, that could work **that** fast, and could apparently also play movers and make phone calls....that was amazing.  How was it done?  What _else_ could it do?  Then...Asami then realized that this was the first picture she had ever seen of her and Korra together, at least since they had gotten together, and she did not care that they both still looked a little rough from so long in the woods (Their hair was untrimmed, they had numerous small scrapes that had not yet faded completely, and they wore strange clothing that belonged to Petuwaq's sister), it was absolutely beautiful.  "Wow," she said again, and even if it was the same word it had all the difference in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have put in a tiny dig at _Man of Steel_ here, because that scene of Jonathan Kent saying that maybe Clark should not have gotten involved and risk exposing himself almost made me physically ill. I hated that movie, and here's how it **should** have happened. Just like Jonathan Kent is _supposed_ to be, Asami would NEVER suggest that keeping their secret is somehow more important than helping the people around them, she just wants them to be cognizant of the risks. Eyes open, not shut away.
> 
> Seriously, I hated _Man of Steel_ so much.


	39. Chapter 39

John waved goodbye as Pete drove off--feeling a slight twinge in his back that said he might have pulled something earlier in the day--and turned around to walk back into the garage.  They had actually closed about half an hour ago and most of the staff had gone home, only Steve was left in back working on his personal passion project (He had been really cagey about where he had gotten it, especially all the way out here, but it looked like it was going to be a _beauty_ of a Shelby once he finished the restoration).  Walking through, he knocked on the door to his dad's office and stuck his head in.

 

"Hey dad, I'm probably going to head out in a few minutes, you need anything before I go?"

 

Barry Soucy looked up from the papers he was reviewing and set them aside.  "Come in John, how'd everything go today?"

 

"Pretty good.  With the parts that came in this afternoon I'll probably have the work done on Mr. Davis's truck tomorrow morning, if it all checks out I can let him have it back first thing in the afternoon."

 

"Your friends didn't slow you down any, did they?"  That could have been a criticism, and it definitely was a serious question, but it was also honestly wondering.

 

"No, nothing like that, just a late delivery.  Everybody stayed out of the way."

 

"Good, good.  I'm glad to see Pete stopping by, I always thought it was weird that he never came over like your other friends."  John shuffled his feet, not quite sure how to say that he had never really invited Pete over before now.  His dad also squirmed a bit in his chair, and uncomfortably asked the next question; "You don't usually bring your friends around during work time, and that Asami--it is Asami, right?--is a very good looking woman.  Is...uh...is everything okay between you and Jeanson?"

 

"What?  No, dad, me and Jeannie are just fine."  He could see his dad relax at that, he had always liked Jeanson.  "Besides, I'm pretty sure she's Pete's girl.  Or, rather he's _hers_ with the way he follows her around.  I just wanted to give her a chance to get more familiar with what we have and...dad, you should see her work, it's incredible.  We were working on Pete's car yesterday and I'll lay out $20 that she never saw a Honda engine in her life before that morning, but she had it stripped in no time flat.  Billy--you remember Billy, right?--was with us, and those little Japanese cars have always been a passion of his--I've never understood it, he's been weird since we were kids--and he said she had it apart faster than he could have done it."  Now John had a sly grin on his face.  "It might have been even faster than you."

 

"Oh, challenging your old man, eh?  I'm not off the heap yet, you know." And he flexed to show that he was still in his prime, although the impression might have been dampened by the wheeze he could not keep from escaping.  "What about the other one?  Cora...Korra?  I didn't see her on the floor at all."

 

"Nah, she's not a greasemonkey," John shook his head.  "Claire says she's a fashion or design student or something."

 

"Really?"  His dad paused in consideration.  "Huh...to tell you the truth, if you'd asked me this morning I would have flipped that around, she looks like she could bench-press an engine block."

 

"No argument from me, but that's probably from the kung fu that she does." Yesterday's park adventure was still fresh in his mind.  "Claire said she's actually going to try and teach her something."

 

"Kung fu?  Seriously?  I didn't think they actually did that in China anymore.  Is she any good?"

 

"Any goo--wait, did you hear about what happened at the Green yesterday?"

 

"Yesterday?  No...wait, do you mean that car crash?  Yeah, I heard about that.  Why?"

 

"Here, let me show you."  And John walked around the desk to the laptop his father had set up off to the side, brining up the YouTube video that Claire had passed onto him earlier in the day.  "Just watch," he said, and ran through the dramatic rescue.

 

"Holy crap," his dad said once it finished, "Is she Jackie Chan's cousin or something?  That was yesterday?"

 

"Yeah, just after we first ran into them, actually.  Hell of a first impression."

 

"I should say so.  And Claire wants to learn that?  Wow, she can probably use it to beat off the guys coming after her."  And he laughed.

 

"Uh...yeah, it should help with that," but now John's smile was noticeably forced and his mind's eye was quickly looking over everything that had happened over the past two days.... "If that's everything I'm going to get going, we were thinking about meeting up later to catch a movie and I need to get cleaned up."  He gestured down at his sweaty, stained uniform.

 

"Oh, sure, sure, get going.  Have a great night."

 

John left the office, but instead of heading to shower and get changed he walked over to the waiting room where he knew Claire would be reading one of their old magazines and fretting about the time.

 

"Hey Clue, how's it going?"  He never used that old nickname from when they were kids except when he had something on his mind, and Claire was instantly suspicious.

 

"Uh....everything's good, I'm just waiting for you to finish up.  You better hurry up if we're going to catch the film."  And she looked at the clock with such pointedness that he had to laugh.

 

"I will, I was just...uh...that Korra really is something, right?  Is she starting to show you that kung fu?"  His eyes widened slightly at the way her cheeks reddened just a tiny bit at the mention of Korra's name.  "How's that going?"

 

"Well, I'd say pretty good since it's my first day.  Just, y'know, how to stand and stuff.  I've always thought that was all really interesting."  John had never heard her ever before say she was interested in martial arts (Apart from liking action movies) and he felt a tingling begin to work its way up his spine.

 

"Cool, cool.  It's just...uh...I mean...that's it, right?  Just learning kung fu?  Nothing...else?"

 

"What do you--oh, nonononono, it's not....look, John that thing last year was...it's not....look, we saw her _jump on a car_ yesterday, that was really amazing and all, it's not...not..."  Now Claire's face was solidly flushed, but her expression was edging more towards horror instead of embarrassment.  Sighing, John sat down next to her and draped his arm over her shoulder, drawing her against him and resting his cheek on the top of her head, like any comforting big brother ever (Even though she was actually forty-seven minutes older).

 

"Clue, we talked about this last year.  Mom and dad will **freak** , and what will everybody else say?  You can't...it's not right and I thought we'd handled that."

 

"We did, we totally did, this isn't....come on, you can't say you weren't impressed yesterday."  She sounded desperate, like she wanted him to give her an easy excuse to justify her feelings.

 

"I was absolutely impressed yesterday, that was amazing, and she seems really cool (Even if she's not a greasemonkey), but that doesn't change anything.  Hell, she's probably not even...."  He trailed off, unwilling to even say it.

 

"I, uh, I think she is.  I mean, I think she and Asami are..., but that's good, because then it doesn't even matter if I...." she trailed off, unwilling herself to say more.

 

John could not help but wonder why everybody seemed to think anybody except Pete and Asami were a couple, when they had literally not left one another's side today or yesterday.  Aloud, he said "I don't think so, I think Asami's with Pete, and that's not the point.  The point is..."  This time he trailed off because he did not know what to say 'the point' was, and the two just sat there in silence.  Eventually, he realized that she was crying; quiet, tiny sobs that he could feel reverberating through her body.

 

They sat that way for a long time.

 

"John?  I'm not like that.  Really, I'm not, and you're right that she's probably not...uh, and since I'm not and she's not, there's nothing to worry about.  It's just that with everything, what happened at the Green yesterday and her showing me stuff today, it's a lot to handle and....but I swear, that's it.  Please."  She was almost asking, not telling, asking him to accept what she was saying and have that somehow make it true, and John....John wanted it to be true almost as much as she did.

 

"Okay, Clue.  Okay.  Come on, let's get cleaned up and head out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, crap, right, sometimes the world can suck even with nothing at all to do with bending or escaping the military.


	40. Chapter 40

It turned out that they were late after all, and by the time John and Claire had picked up Jeanson and made it to the theatre Pete, Korra and Asami had already gotten their seats and the previews were rolling, and they caught just the last few seconds of what looked liked like a trailer for a computer-generated film about a boy and a balloon robot.  As they squeezed into the seats that had been held for them (With John being just a little too quick to interpose himself between Claire and Korra at one end) the feature presentation itself began (After numerous warnings to turn off cell phones, avoid talking, and so on).  Next to him, he could hear Korra and Asami talking excitedly, and he belatedly realized that if they had never seen a camera phone before, what would they make of a big-screen movie?  He was about to say something, maybe try to prepare them for the moving images, but they actually seemed perfectly calm as it began, although he thought that he might have heard Asami sob as the mother died.  Still, there was nothing odd about somebody crying at a sad scene in a movie, so he figured that maybe they were used to this after all (Although that raised another point for him to think about: What kind of background did these two have that they knew fashion design, kung fu and mechanics, but not cell phones?  John realized that he actually knew extremely little about them at all, even less than just two days of familiarity would imply).  Then they began to nearly scream at each other when the spaceship showed up and abducted the kid five minutes in.

 

No, not 'scream' exactly, but they were talking to each other **very** excitedly, and already there were shouts coming from around them to be quiet.  They seemed to understand the "shush"es, apparently that sound did not need a written translation, and they lowered their voices, but they continued to speak back and forth as the title credits rolled and the dancing on an alien planet began.  John felt his own blush rise as he felt the eyes of the rest of the theatre on them, but eventually the eyes turned back to the screen and he was able to sink back into the movie.  Then the eyes were back after the two women started talking again when the shooting and flying began.  He was about to say something (new friends or not, there are ways you are supposed to act in public) but then Pete leaned over from Asami's other side and said something in English, and they quieted down again.  This time they stayed soft for the rest of the movie, even though he could still here them whispering back and forth.

 

It was still a very good movie and John enjoyed it quite thoroughly.

 

Afterwards, as they were all leaving, he saw Korra and Asami write out a note for Pete, who looked confused after reading it, but he wrote a response and passed it over as they milled about in the theatres lobby, deciding what to do next.  It was getting late, but when you are young "getting late" is a far cry from heading home and they talked about what to do next, eventually deciding on a late dinner.  There were not a lot of options late on a Monday night, but they knew of an all-night diner not too far away.  As they were leaving, John picked up the crumpled bits of paper that had contained the passed notes from just after the movie had ended, curious as to what they had said.

 

"What was real?"

 

John looked over at Korra and Asami walking off with the rest of group and scratched his head.  What?

 

* * *

 

 

 Joe's Diner was one of the few places in _Ville de Moores_ that was open all night, and they were seated in a booth towards the back as they talked about the movie and spoke of other fun, meaningless things.

 

"I, for one, simply have to say that any movie which includes a dance-off in the climax _must_ be regarded as an instant classic.  Everything else is irrelevant."  Jeanson could barely contain her laughter.

 

"A valid point, but it sadly must come in as a close second to 'pelvic sorcery', which you must all recognize as the high-point of witty repartee."  Claire always got eloquent after a movie, and John was happy to see that she was feeling better to be able to laugh.  When they had spoken earlier....he did not like having to go through that with her.

 

"Yeah, but was anybody else a little disappointed at the way Gamorra was written?  Why turn against Ronan now?  What was her thinking?  That could have been fleshed out a little bit more."  Pete was one to good-naturedly point out the flaws in a film he enjoyed.

 

"I think you are all overlooking the true standout character of the feature.  After all, we are all Groot, are we not?" And John did a very appreciable imitation of the voice, which got a laugh from everybody at the table, even Korra and Asami.  Quickly, they pulled out their notepad and wrote a comment of their own, passing it over to Pete.

 

"What do they say?" Jeanson asked.

 

Pete looked at the note for a second, then read off "Where in your world are there spirits like that?"

 

That got a puzzled silence from the rest of the table as they tried to understand just what it was that they were asking.  Clearly there was some kind of translation issue at the moment.  Jeanson grabbed the pen and wrote out a response, "These were all fake images."

 

"We know of false images in movers," they responded, "is there no source?"

 

For the first time, John wondered if maybe these women were not just having translation issues, but might actually have some kind of mental disability.  They seemed normal, but could they not tell the difference between real life and a science fiction movie?  "Uh...Pete?  What is the story here?  'Cause right now it looks like they think we just saw a documentary or something."

 

"To be honest, I'm not really sure, it's been like this all day and I'm not sure if we're just working off a very bad dictionary or they've grown up behind a wall somewhere."

 

"Didn't you say your mom knew their parents?" Claire asked.

 

"Uh...yeah, she does, but they haven't kept in very close contact over the years so I don't have all the details.  Let me try something."  And he wrote out "This was based on a story, there is no source."  Korra and Asami nodded and that and continued to smile, so...they recognized that it was not a real movie?

 

At that point, John just nodded his head and smiled and tried to stop thinking about it.  They could fix an engine and rescue old ladies having a heart attack behind the wheel of a moving car, he could let it sit there.

 

At the end of dinner, as they began to divvy up the check, Pete began to pay for Korra and Asami and they wrote out another note for him, looking almost ashamed.  "What's up?" asked Claire.

 

"They..heh...they don't like me paying for them....uh, it's a bad custom I think....we were actually going to start job-hunting this week."

 

"Job hunting?" Jeanson seemed surprised.  "How long are they staying?"

 

"Probably for the summer, and they didn't come over with much cash, so they wanted some spending money.  Just to cover the extras."  The more Pete explained about their background the more it did not make sense, but...

 

"Hey, I might have an idea.  Why don't you guys stop by the garage tomorrow around twelve?"

 

After another of the note exchanges, Pete nodded.  "Sure, we'll see you then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, I'm honestly not feeling this chapter, it's definitely not my best. Can't put my finger on it. Hopefully I'll be back to form for the next one.


	41. Chapter 41

The next day, as Petuwaq drove her and Korra over to the garage again, Asami wondered just what it was that John had in mind.  Presumably a job at that garage, it was the obvious idea considering that it was the only thing they had done together.  However, despite the fact that she knew she could handle the mechanical aspects with ease (Though humble, Asami held no self-delusions and she accepted that she was one of the finest mechanical engineers in the entire United Republic), the simple fact that she could not communicate well with either John himself or any potential customers posed a pretty simple obstacle.  Apparently only a few of the people in this area could read and write in English, and so far she had picked up only a very few words of French, so unless John was going to spend his entire day serving as translator she did not expect being able to function very well.  Still, perhaps he had an idea.

 

When they arrived the garage itself was much like it had been the day before, the same small number of mechanics working in the garage, although she noticed that there was somebody talking to John and Mister Soucy out front next to a truck that she had seen John working on the day before.  They chatted for a few minutes, shook hands all around, then he drove off and Mister Soucy waved them out of the car.  As she approached, Asami noticed that he looked....perturbed, perhaps.  Not angry or upset, but not the casuality of the day before.  They all greeted one another, and then went into the office as they had yesterday.  Petuwaq, John and Mister Soucy spoke briefly (Petuwaq had explained to them the ruse he had presented to John and Claire, and she expected that he was likely again saying that they were family friends staying for the summer and looking for work), and then John and Mister Soucy got up and walked into the garage, beckoning Asami to follow.  Korra, however, was waved back when she rose to join her, and with a puzzled expression she waited with Petuwaq.

 

Out in the garage she walked past the working mechanics, greeting those by name whom John had introduced her to the day before, until the three of them reached a car in the back out of the way, with its hood lifted and the engine partially disassembled and laid out before them, with a selection of parts and tools laid out next to it.  Then, John and Mister Soucy stood there and said nothing.  When she wrote a question to them on a notepad, they read it and gave no reply.  So.....a test?  Was that how things were done in this world generally?  Or was this something special to see if she could work without any instructions?  It seemed ridiculous, but....she leaned into the car and began to examine the engine.

 

It was a different model from engines she had examined over the past two days, larger and with more cylinders, but still operating on the same fundamental principles, and she had no doubt at all that she could put it back together again.  It might take her a while, since she had no idea what the end product was supposed to look like, but assembly and construction was a language she spoke perfectly well.  Gripping the tools available, she began to slowly bring the car back to life.  After ten minutes John left and resumed working on another of the cars in the service bay, leaving only Mister Soucy to watch over her, but she _could_ feel him watching.  She gathered from his attitude that this was not something he was particularly on board with, and had likely only acquiesced at John's urging.  She almost smiled, remembering back to when her own father would hem and haw as she brought some new concept to him, and how he would look much the same after she wore him down to give her what she asked for (With perhaps a little more pouting than she was proud to admit).  She had always made whatever pie-in-the-sky concept she had thought up work, both by itself and as a new product for Future Industries, and she saw no reason to fail now.  In an hour, she tightened the final fastening and turned to Mister Soucy, bringing out her notepad again and writing a short question.

 

"May I have the keys?"

 

His stunned expression seemed exaggerated beyond the impressiveness of the situation, but he handed her the set of keys and the car started on the first ignition.  Still stunned, he guided her back to the office, where Petuwaq and Korra were waiting.  As they entered Asami noticed that the two were playing a game that looked similar to Water/Earth/Fire/Air, but they halted and looked up right away.  Mister Soucy and Petuwaq spoke, then Mister Soucy turned to Asami and he began to write his own note to her.

 

"Very impressive.  Worked with Ford EcoBoost engine before?"

 

Presumably that was what she had just reassembled, and she shook her head.  He gaped at that, apparently expecting her to say that she had training on that model.  "Any Ford models?"  She shook her head again and he gaped more, quite out of all proportion in her opinion, all she had done was reassemble it, it was not like she had designed the thing.  After a minute, he wrote another note.  "Want a job?"

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the day was spent familiarizing Asami with the precise layout of the garage, which unfortunately left Petuwaq and Korra with nothing much to do, as this had now progressed to work and not the fun companionship they had enjoyed the day before of following John around or working with Claire (Who, Korra learned when she asked, had declined to be at the garage today).  Soon they found themselves outside where Korra had been working with Claire, sitting in the same chairs she had set up the day before and without anything to do.  In the future Petuwaq would likely just drop Asami off in the morning and return to pick her up in the afternoon, no need to wait around all day, but since it was already after 1:00 and they would likely be leaving before close of business it did not seem worth it to leave and just come back.  That left them likely three hours to kill and...what would they do?  Despite having lived together for three days now this was actually the first time Korra and Petuwaq had just sat side-by-side with nobody else present and nothing to do, and without some startling new bit of technology to fascinate over.  They briefly played the game he had shown her while they were waiting in the office (He had called it Rock/Paper/Scissor and it was easy enough to learn, although she kept trying to throw 'Fire' by instinct), but that could only go on for so long.  Eventually they settled into awkward silence and....Petuwaq brought out the notepad.

 

"Are you and Asami together?"

 

The bald question caught Korra off-guard, and not just for one reason.  So far Petuwaq had actually not tried to pry too much into their history; part of it was their difficulty in communicating (Note writing was hardly conducive to lively conversation) but part of it was also that he seemed hesitant to dig up what they did not want to volunteer, and that he would ask so directly startled Korra.  But Korra was also off-guard because he was the very first person to have asked about her and Asami.  It seemed so much longer with all that had happened, but barely a month had passed since they embarked on their vacation to the Spirit World.  One month and a journey to a different world, having survived both on a desolate icy tundra and a wild forest, staying with captors in a military base and also friends in a welcoming home, and.....through all of it, Asami had been beside her.  But what did he mean by 'together'?  There were so many possible ways of classifying a relationship, so many ways to define and label and categorize, so many ways of saying the exact same thing with ten thousand different meanings, and......

 

"Yes, we are together."

 

 Whether in this strange, new world, which was rapidly becoming no longer strange or new, or back in the world they hadcome from, her simple presence made it 'home'.  Petuwaq did not say anything further, not even via note, but he nodded his head.  The he raised his hand again, made a fist, and they resumed the Rock/Paper/Scissor game.

 

* * *

 

 

It was hours later, after John had shown Asami around to the business aspects of the garage and marked off what she would need to work, that she walked outside to find Korra and Petuwaq dozing in their chairs.  Laughing, she nudged them both awake and gestured to leave.  They all bid farewell to John and Mister Soucy, who still seemed sandbagged from Asami's demonstration before, and were about to leave, when a sound caught Asami's attention.  It was an engine, but this did not sound like any of the cars that they had heard before.  Instead it sounded similar to the motorcycles that the Equalists and Republic City Police had used, and indeed it was one, which they could see cruise down the street.  However, this was to the old Equalist bikes what a modern airship was to the old Fire Nation war balloons.  The Equalist bikes had been light and fast, but half the reason they were fast was _because_ they were so light; small engines working with a light frame and limited capacity.  They were maneuverable and quick, perfect for city operations, but they had no durability for rough handling, no compensation for additional weight; if you tried to ride one from Republic City to Yu Dao you would break down halfway there, and if you had somebody else riding with you (In her mind she could feel Korra sitting behind her, feel her arms wrapped around her for balance, feel...) the bike transformed from a fast, nimble machine to a plodding behemoth.  _This_ motorcycle, however...Asami was already itching to have her fingers buried in its engine, she could **feel** its power.  Part of that was deliberate, she knew (From sound alone it was clear that there was an artificial enhancement, likely to make it sound even more powerful than it was), but even discounting that the air was humming with its energy, she could feel it calling out to be released.  She suddenly realized that it had been nearly a month since she had been behind the wheel of a car, _any_ car, nothing to move fast and smoothly under her complete control, and now with that beautiful machine in front of her...

 

"Asami, if you don't stop staring at her soon I'm going to become jealous."

 

Asami jerked and realized that she had been staring for almost a full minute.  Not only that, but the rider had gotten off and Asami felt herself blush at the realization that it was an attractive woman, and she had essentially been staring at her as well.  The woman was walking over, and as she removed her helmet....this had to be John and Claire's mother.  The resemblance was not as definite as between John and his father, who might have just been older and younger versions of the same man, but it was still clear.

 

"Sorry," she murmured to Korra, but even then her eyes were dragged back to the motorcycle.

 

"You know, if you go over to say 'hi' she might let you take a look at it.  Or you could stand here with your tongue hanging out," and Korra actually shoved Asami forward.

 

Laughing now, Asami walked over to the woman with Petuwaq to make the introductions.  " _Bonjour,_ " she said (They had learned that much), and then Petuwaq took over and they spoke back and forth.  Smiling, she expansively indicated the motorcycle and Asami knelt down beside it, running her fingers over the shining metal and smooth leather.  It had a V-engine and a chromed flare swinging off either side, and Asami felt that she had fallen in love all over again.  She stood back regretfully, wanting nothing more than to hop on it right then and there, and followed Korra and Petuwaq back to his car for the ride back his house.

 

"Korra, I would give up 10% of my company to have a bike like that," and she said it with such earnestness that for half a second Korra actually believed her.

 

"Well then, we'll need to get you one," and off Asami's laugh she insisted, "You have a paying job now, and I'll find one soon, and then we can get you that machine and ride off to wherever the road takes us.  Just imagine; you, me, and the open road before us...uh, just remember that _you_ better drive.  Besides, that way I get to hold on tight." At that, Korra gently turned Asami around (Awkward in the cramped back seat when they were both bound by the safety belts) and reached around her front, clasping her hands across Asami's stomach.  "And then....the whole world...."

 

Asami's eyes closed of their own accord and her mind drifted, and she could see them on a long, straight stretch of highway, with Korra's arms wrapped around her just like right now, and she opened the throttle wide....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much better, this one feels right in all the ways the last chapter didn't. Eh, what can I say, everybody has off days.


	42. Chapter 42

When they arrived back at the house, Korra and Asami noticed that there was a new car parked alongside, not familiar from the past few days, and they remembered that Petuwaq had mentioned his father would be arriving home.  They also remembered that Kunik had apparently been arguing with him on the phone two days before, how would he react to them living in his home?  The extreme awkwardness the situation loomed large as they considered that they had essentially moved into his house when he had never even met them before. How would Asami have reacted if she came home from a business trip and she had found Mako's family living in her estate without even being consulted?  With trepidation that dwarfed what they had felt preparing to escape from captivity aboard the airplane, they followed Petuwaq inside.

 

His father (They presumed) met them at the door, and if he did not look absolutely ecstatic to meet them, at least he bore a polite smile.  Kunik was with him, fielding almost the exact same expression, and it was not hard to guess that they had been....discussing....the situation already.  Still, he introduced himself genially enough ("Henri", apparently) and they were all welcomed in.  As they sat down to dinner later, Korra could not help but reflect on the bizarre nature of their tableau.  By all appearances this was a normal family dinner, but they had only even met Kunik three days ago, still could not understand one another, and there was still so much about this world that she and Asami did not understand.  What were the customs in these situations?  How did people react?  The meal was eaten in semi-uncomfortable silence, and what little dialogue there was had the sound of meaningless pleasantries and formalities.  Towards the end, Henri began to speak with a very slight harshness to his voice, but then Petuwaq said something himself which got a very startled reaction from both Kunik and Henri, who turned to Asami with expressions of....not quite 'shock', but clearly surprise.  Whatever information had just been exchanged had shifted the mood almost completely, and by the time the table had been cleared (Korra and Asami graciously volunteered to perform the cleanup, especially since they had been cooked for and served) the atmosphere was noticeably brighter.  By the time they retired to their room for the evening, Henri almost looked happy.

 

"So, tomorrow you actually start working?" Korra asked as they readied for bed.

 

"Yeah, Petuwaq's going to drive me over in the morning.  Although..should I maybe walk over?  It's not that far, and I can't ask him to drive me every day, he's already been our chauffeur for too long and he said he needs to get a job as well."

 

"Hey, as long as he's available, why turn it down?"  Korra hesitated for a moment, "He's really a nice guy.  I'm sure he doesn't mind, and soon we'll know the ins-and-outs around here and can give him a break.  The one thing I'm worried about is what am  _ **I**_ going to do now?"  She pouted with such exaggerated despair that Asami had to fight the urge to hug her for comfort, laughing instead.  "I can't exactly follow you to work every day."

 

"Maybe they could find something for you to do at the garage?"  Asami suggested hopefully, but Korra shook her head ruefully.

 

"I don't have your magic fingers, if we studied for a year I might be able to touch one of those engines without breaking it in half, and I don't think they've got anything else for me.  Besides, we can't just take charity from everybody we meet here.  I'll think of something to keep me busy, and maybe I'll get an epiphany.  There's got to be something I can do around here to help earn my keep."

 

"Of course there is.  In a week you're going to be mayor."  Asami grinned as she lay down, and Korra leaned in to kiss her forehead before getting into bed beside her.

 

"Let's hope not, I think I'd go insane trying to deal with politics even more than I already do. Then again, if I was actually in charge like that I wouldn't need to deal with Raiko or anybody else looming overhead.....there's potential there."

 

"But you'd probably need to give plenty of speeches, don't forget," and Asami had to laugh at Korra's sudden revulsion.  "Okay, let's just forget the whole thing in that case."

 

"Deal.  Go to sleep, you've got a big day tomorrow."

 

"Goodnight Korra."

 

"Goodnight Asami."  Korra leaned in again and rested her head in the crook of Asami's neck and lightly touched her lips to skin there, just holding the pose and absorbing the warmth of her skin, then she closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning started almost as part of a routine, like they had not just stumbled into this land a bare few days ago.  Korra and Asami ate with the family at the communal breakfast, they dressed in a new set of Petuwaq's sisters clothes (That had to change soon, they realized), and then Petuwaq drove Asami to her new job, from which he planned to then start his own search.  Kunik and Henri themselves left a few minutes later, and suddenly Korra found herself alone in the house and oddly unsure of what to do with herself.  Kunik had shown her where to find pre-prepared food to eat during the day when she got hungry, and Petuwaq had shown her how to work the TV, but she did not expect to have lunch for hours and she did not feel comfortable with the strange device just yet.  To go to a mover with friends, even one as fantastical as they had seen two nights before, was familiar enough, but she was unsure if she wanted to watch a mover alone when she was still a little unsure if she could be seen through it as well.  Although, who knew what kind of amazing the TV that might have?  She had never imagined visuals like she had seen at the mover could exist outside of the Spirit World, and  _in_ the Spirit World she would have had to be dealing with them in person.  To be able to detach and enjoy something so amazing while not also fearing that it might decide to step on you.....Korra could feel her resistance to the TV crumbling.

 

Fortunately (Or unfortunately), she heard the ringing of the doorbell just as she was about to succumb and pick up the control.  Wondering who might be at the door (And picking up the collection of notes that Petuwaq had pre-written in French that morning before he left to cover some general issues that might arise with nobody around to translate), Korra was very surprised to find Claire and three other young women outside.  She hesitated before inviting them in (This was not her house), but from conversation Kunik had seemed to know Claire and John's family, so she would likely not disapprove, and Korra beckoned them inside.

 

"I know that Asami is starting to work at the garage today, and I though you might be lonely, so me and my friends wanted to stop by."  Claire made the round of introductions (Joanne, Renee and Allie), and the other women seemed friendly enough, so Korra was ecstatic at the company.  There were few things as empty as an empty house.

 

They talked amongst themselves for a bit, and then one of them (Renee, if Korra had gotten the names correct) asked a question through Claire (Who seemed to be the only one who could write in English).  "Claire says you were the one in the park on Sunday?"  Korra smiled and nodded and they all 'oohed' and 'ahhed', and one of them brought out one of those tiny phone/TV devices and played the recording again, and they were all excitingly discussing what it showed.  Korra could not contribute much to the conversation itself, but she could appreciate the accolades, and she enjoyed the approval.  With all the struggles over the years, and the way new problems always seemed to grow right out of the old ones, sometimes it seemed like all she got was criticism and contempt.  This innocent admiration, from something as small as saving a single person, could mean a whole lot.

 

"You're teaching Claire fighting?"  Allie asked, and Korra nodded again (Although she would have disagreed with 'fighting' if she had had the language skills.  Bending was not just about fighting), although...she noticed that Claire seemed a little hesitant today, with a very different withdrawn energy than she had had two days before.

 

"Demonstrate?"  Korra asked, and was surprised at just how enthusiastic the response was from everybody.  Did _nobody_ in this town practice any form of movement?  Was it that alien to them?  Quickly, she lead them outside to the front of the house (There was a small yard in back, but the ground was very uneven and ill-suited to a demonstration) and considered how to perform.  She had started Claire on basic waterbending forms, but that lacked the energy that a crowd of observers merited, and she decided on a different approach.  Waterbending and airbending both operated on curves, instead of the straight lines of earthbending and firebending, but where waterbending had circles, airbending had spirals, and where waterbending was slow, airbending required speed.  After making sure that she had the proper space, and picking out a 'center' point, she began.

 

Her spiral was small at first, not even as large as her own pace, but in five steps it had expanded, and in five more steps she was now spinning across the yard with her back straight and her arms up in a soft guard, then...when she began to shift into an active stance that crossed through her spiral she could actually hear a few gasps from the observers.  As she twisted through the center she added another spiral, beginning to pivot on her feet even as she continued to move within the larger spiral, and she began to carve out a third with her upper body.  She spun in her three spirals and considered adding a fourth, Tenzin had long since shown her how to spiral _up_ as well, but that would have necessitated her airbending and...actually, why _not_ add a fourth spiral?  Just as bending was not only about fighting, it was also not **just** about manipulating the elements, and any forms that could be executed by bending the elements should be able to be effected as well using just your body and mind.  She paused for just a moment, timing it to coincide with the end of one spiral so as to make it a part of the form itself, and then decided to try it.  If she was going to try and get along without her bending as much as she could in this world she would need to figure this out eventually, and now was as good a time as any.  If she did not get it...well, then she did not get it, and that was not such a big problem at all.  The time when a single failure dominated her thoughts was long behind her.

 

She leapt.

 

To Korra it was almost like a tiny hop, compared to the heights that she could reach with her airbending (Or even by manipulating the other elements to assist her) it was no higher than climbing onto a step, but it was high enough.  As her body worked through her primary spiral, and her legs and arms each worked through their own spirals, she twisted in the air, twisting at the waist and spinning around her own center, and for just one second she had all four spirals working together, each one complementing the other three and lending them their own motion.  Then she came back down to the ground, landing easily right in the exact center point she had picked out when she began.

 

Total silence greeted her and she was momentarily disappointed (She was hoping for _some_ kind of reaction), but when she rose and looked at her four observers she was met by four expressions of complete incredulity, even more than when she had stopped the car in the park.  They seemed incapable of speech and Korra felt the blood start to rush to her cheeks (She had not expected _that_ kind of stunned reaction) when they suddenly exploded into loud and raucous cheers and applause, cheering as hard as any of the masses she had ever stood before.  Now Korra _did_ blush and tried to wave it away, but they rushed over and began to babble at her.  She still could not understand them, but it was obvious regardless:  Would she teach them?

 

Of course she would, she nodded, and she would be happy to work with them right alongside Claire, who now looked just as excited as she had the last time Korra had worked with her.

 

But Korra also had another thought, which snuck into her thoughts very quietly and refused to leave.  Instructing her new friends would be a pleasure all by itself, and she needed no urging for that, but if they were this excited, who else in _Ville de Moores_ might want to learn?  How many might there be?  And if there were enough, and she could figure out how to do it, perhaps she could help contribute to her own care after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, we are actually finally getting close to the point that I regard as the actual start of the primary story of this fic. It's only been.....SEVENTY THOUSAND WORDS?!?!?! Holy Potatoes, there's being long-winded and then there's frikkin' _ridiculous_.
> 
> Well, as much as I ramble, like I said we're edging towards the main plot. I'll give you an update once we hit that, along with some of my background thoughts and intentions, and we'll go from there.


	43. Chapter 43

" _Bonjour, madame. Se il vous plaît donner au propriétaire un moment et il se fera un plaisir de vous aider._ "  Asami smiled welcomingly at the woman who was shepherding what could only be described as a passel of kids, and gestured to the waiting room off the side of the workshop.  In her week at the garage she had picked up a few words of the language (Mainly mechanical terminology), and made sure to memorize a few key phrases for use in certain instances (Such as now), but she was far from conversant and left all customer interactions to Mr. Soucy (Who she now knew was not actually named 'Mister' Soucy).  Once the customer had made her way off the floor (And Asami was sure that none of the kids were going to escape and run right into a lift), Asami turned back to the repair she was working on, sliding beneath the truck frame to try and find why the supposedly four-wheel-drive vehicle was only giving two.  Paul had looked it over earlier and declared that the electronic diagnostics checked out (Asami still preferred to leave that to more experienced hands, she had not _quite_ perfected her mastery over computers) so it was almost certainly a mechanical fault somewhere, and she had spent a good twenty minutes lying on the sled on her back trying to find the hink.  However, she had just resumed her inspection when she heard somebody _else_ walk in and she slid out again to direct the newcomer to the waiting room as well.  He was probably the husband to the woman who had just entered a moment ago, still putting away his keys from parking their car.  " _Bonjour, monsieur. Se il vous plaît donner au propriétaire un moment et il sera heureux de vous aider._ "  Asami had made sure to learn the proper gendered terms the first time she called a grouchy old man 'madame', and she effortlessly switched for this customer.  However, instead of turning aside as his wife had done he froze in place, not-quite-staring at Asami with not-quite-condescension, before he seemed to catch himself and he nodded and walked off.  Rolling her eyes ever-so-slightly, Asami again slid back under the truck.

 

She had been getting reactions like that since she started, and had not known what to make of it at first.  In Republic City she had always been dismissed because of her name and appearance, written off as the spoiled daughter of an industrialist whose pretty face covered an empty head, but nobody here knew of her history, and she certainly did not look like Heiress Asami Sato in the stained uniform she wore every day (Although she knew that Korra would say that she made even that look beautiful.  In fact, Korra _had_ said that).  It was only on her third day, when one woman had actually tried to insist that one of the other mechanics deal with her car, that Mr. Soucy had explained that people did not expect a female mechanic to be competent, let alone one so young.  That had surprised Asami from almost every perspective.  She knew the Northern Water Tribe was still struggling with such concepts, let alone some parts of the Earth Kingdom, but the industrialized portions of the United Republic and Fire Nation had long since dealt with that.  In a mechanized society it was the mind, not the body, which mattered, and in her and Korra's exposure Canada looked as industrialized as any of their cities.  Plus, she had been accepted so swiftly by the people at the garage itself, why would people who were less trained feel they were better qualified to judge?  Mr. Soucy had actually laughed at that, deep chuckles that were just a little bit sad, and explained that his wife (That same woman on the motorcycle from the week before) had already beaten everybody into submission years ago when they questioned _her_ skills, so the people who actually knew how to handle a wrench had been well prepared for her (And Claire, Jeanson, and their friends for that matter).  Everybody else, on the other hand.....

 

So, Asami ignored it as best she could (At least the language barriers prevented her from needing to actually _speak_ to the people who gave her such looks) and went back to her work.  She finally tracked down the problem with this truck a half hour later (A cracked wheelhouse.  Not even completely broken, just cracked enough to prevent enough transfer to the rear axle), and when she could not find a replacement in storage she wrote up an order request that she passed along to John.  Without that part there was nothing much to do unless she completely rebuilt the distribution system (And Mr. Soucy had gotten pretty angry with her when she did that the first time they did not have a part, although Asami knew that he was impressed as well), and she signaled Paul to have the truck moved off to the side until they could get a parts delivery.  Then, realizing it was past midday, she decided it was time for lunch.  Instead of going to the break room, though, she walked out the back to the open grassed area.

 

Korra was there, working with Claire and Allie and Billy, guiding them through a waterbending form.  Normally they did not practice here (Mr. Soucy was as accommodating as he could be, but this was a place of business and the source of his livelihood, not even for his kids would he turn it into some sort of playground), but Claire was actually going to be working in the shop this afternoon when Steve left early (The rumor was that he was picking up something special for his Shelby) and Mr. Soucy had said okay since it was just the three of them and they were part of the crew which hung out at the garage in the off-hours anyway.  Thusly, for the first time since they had been here as just visitors, bending was being practiced out back.

 

The form they were working on was one of the most simple and basic progressions, not even the famed bending masters of legend could master their elements in a _week_ , but even still Asami could appreciate the evenly shifting stances and poised balance.  She had always thought that water was the element which leant itself best towards calmness and inner stability, maybe even more than airbending despite the common perception, and as the four of them moved in near silence it was easy to get caught up in the moving-stillness.  Of course, it could be that she was predisposed towards water, and she smirked as she eyed Korra in particular.  As if she could feel the eyes upon her, Korra turned her face to Asami and gave her a small wave, just the barest wiggle of two fingers, but she did not say anything and she did not break the form, focused on completing the shift.  Moments later, when all four were in the same spot they had started but had reversed to face the opposite direction, they relaxed and broke apart.  Korra spoke a few brief words of encouragement and approval, then walked over to Asami.

 

"They seem to be doing very well," Asami said.

 

"They are," Korra could not keep the pride out of her voice, mixed with a little relief--in this past week was the first time she had ever actually tried to train a group, and she had half-feared what could result, "I don't know if we just happened to bump into the very best, or if everybody here works so well, but they're picking it up very easily, even if we're still bumping over the lessons I can't just act out.  Especially Claire, I think this is something she's wanted to do for a long time.  She hangs on every word...even the ones she can't understand."  Korra turned to where Claire was going through the form again by herself when the other two were sitting and drinking glasses of water.  "She's got something really driving her."

 

"I think she does," Asami said, but she did not elaborate and Korra did not see the way Asami slyly looked at her out of the corner of her eye.  Asami had recognized Claire's fascination with Korra the first time she had watched them train, and it was so easy to recognize because Asami knew that she had borne the exact same expression herself when she watched Korra perform years ago.  The athleticism and grace, the way Korra's body would stretch taut like a bow string as she extended and relax like silk as she retracted....Asami well understood how anybody could fall under that spell.  Korra herself, however, seemed to have no idea that Claire wanted anything besides bending instruction, and Asami felt no need to clarify the situation.  Claire was young, in all the ways that counted more than just age, and Asami trusted Korra implicitly.  Years ago she had looked with suspicion at the way Mako had fawned over Korra ( _Accurate_ suspicions, as it turned out), but none of them were the same people they were then, not even Mako, wherever he was.  Now, Asami just wished for Claire to have an easy passing to her infatuation, without heartache.

 

"I just wish it turned out there was a market to training like I thought there was."  Korra, completely oblivious to Asami's thoughts, had continued speaking.  "With the way everybody was freaking out I expected to just say 'Hey, I'm starting to teach' and money would fall at our feet."

 

"I'm sure if we give it time it will happen, but can you really blame people for not throwing money at you?  Would _you_ pay somebody to teach you if it was some stranger who tried to hold a class in some other stranger's back yard?"

 

"Well....no, I guess not, but....it's different!"  Korra's tone was trying to be indignant, but she could not quite pull it off.

 

"Come on, admit it, you thought that since it was the Avatar teaching nobody would care about the rest, right?  Admit it!" There _might_ have been a poke to the ribs involved here.

 

"Okay, fine, I admit it!  But I really can't change that, either, we don't have a gym or training area, so we've got to work with what we've got and...for me, this _is_ all I've got, bending is all I'm good at---and I mean when it comes to doing something to make money with, not in a self-criticizing 'I don't have a place in the world' way, so you don't need to say it!" And Asami's mouth clicked shut as Korra pre-empted her with a glare.

 

"No...I was going to say you need to....not worry about...the future...." And Korra's _continued_ glare cut off Asami's ramble and dragged a laugh out at how exactly Korra had pegged what she _would_ have said.  "Seriously, it _was_ a good idea, and it still is, we just need to refine it a bit.  Maybe find some place to actually use as a training ground and set up a real training regimen. Until then, we don't really **need** more money."

 

"Yeah, we don't **need** it, but I still feel bad at the way we're living off the Firmin's.  They've been so great about letting us stay with them, and I just wish I could help out a bit to pay them back."

 

"And you _will_ , just not right away.  Okay?"

 

"Okay," and Korra smiled at how easily Asami could cheer her up (Admittedly not a very hard task considering how well things were going in general), then walked her over to the small table set up near them where the three burgeoning bending masters were eating lunch.  "Join us?"

 

"It's a date," Asami said, and even she did not notice the way Claire's eyes widened when she caught sight of Asami and Korra walking over hand-in-hand.

 

Afterwards, when Asami had eaten her fill and spoken with the others outside (She was growing used to the taste of these foods very quickly now, her sandwich meat had reminded her of turkey-duck), she walked back into the garage to finish out her shift, accompanied by Claire for _her_ shift.  As she did, she caught sight of Mr. Soucy up front apparently arguing with a customer who had brought in a motorcycle.  They did not deal very often with motorcycle repairs, too many different requirements, and from a distance it looked to be in **very** bad shape, and she wondered just what this man wanted done.  Then she understood when she saw the man wheel it off to the side and Mr. Soucy pull out what she had learned was a checkbook, writing him out a payment.  This was not a maintenance request, but a sale, probably for parts or personal tinkering; Asami had not seen Mrs. Soucy since that one day a week ago, but from all she had heard she probably enjoyed fixing up and tinkering with a motorcycle just for the pleasure of it.

 

Now, however, Asami had work to do, and John waved her over to a small sedan that had been brought in earlier in the day.


	44. Chapter 44

"Explain something to me," Korra said.

 

"Hmmmm?"  Asami was, at that moment, trying to reconnect the transmission on the motorcycle that she had been tinkering with for a few days now, and all she could do was grunt at Korra behind her.

 

"You've just spent all week here working on cars, and now that the shop is closed today you come back and keep working.  Why?"

 

Asami strained briefly, tightening the connection, and then relaxed and fell back on her haunches, reaching up to wipe off her brow.  The motorcycle had been in as bad a shape as it looked when it had been pushed in, which was surprising considering that it was not that old. It was also absolutely  **filthy** , and it had taken her two days just to clean it out enough to begin proper repairs.  Now, after days of steady work, she was beginning to approach the idea that it might one day be functional again.  "It's not work, this is for me," she said to Korra.

 

"I get that, I mean why are you doing this for you?"  Korra's voice was open, like she wanted a peek inside Asami's mind.

 

"I've always loved the simplicity of working with my hands.  A joint seals together with another joint and they're a single whole.  All the parts combine together to make an engine.  The engine fits into the car.  Every piece has its place, and they all work together, and the rules don't change.  Even back home, just knowing that I could take something apart and put it back together again, that I had control, was refreshing.  That's part of it...."

 

"And the other part?"

 

Asami paused for a moment before she answered.  "This motorcycle here right now is almost falling apart," and she ran her fingers along its side, "and I don't even want to know what they were doing to get so much gunk in the intake valves, but when I'm through with it it's going to shine like the sun.  Whoever Mr. Soucy sells it to is going to be able to ride her to the ends of the earth if she wants, and I'll be the one to make that possible.  To see something this badly mistreated come back to life in my hands....that's one of the things I always loved about engineering.  Creating and building, just for the sake of making something new, it feels like giving something wonderful to the world."

 

She had closed her eyes during her speech, lost in the future roar of the engine, and then she felt Korra's hands on the side of her face, tilting her head backwards.  Korra leaned in above her and their lips touched briefly, before Korra whispered, "You  _are_  something wonderful in the world," and she leaned in again.

 

Before they could get lost in each other, though, they were jogged out of their reverie by hooting and cheering from all around them.  The jumped in their seats and pulled apart, looking around bashfully at the normal crowd of friends and car enthusiasts that gathered on Sundays when the garage was closed, and who all seemed to be enthusiastically looking at the two of them.  They grinned to cover up their reddening faces and turned back to the motorcycle as the observers continued to give good-natured shouts. In a few minutes they had calmed down themselves and turned back to their own work.  Except for John, who had been showing Pete how to change an oil filter (Pete would never become an expert mechanic, he did not have the training or the innate talent, but with how much time he had spent at the garage over the past few weeks he was starting to learn the essentials, and they were showing him how to handle the basics).  John was staring at the two of them with mouth agape, and Pete had to actually nudge him to bring his attention back to the present.  He turned to Pete and asked him something in a harsh whisper, and seemed completely flummoxed at Pete's nonchalant nod and shoulder shrug.  Korra and Asami, however, did not notice their exchange at all, and were very intently focused on not looking up or around them at all.

 

From the other side of the garage came a small shout of surprise, and everybody looked over to see one of the hangers-on dash out of the break room holding his phone in his hands and talking excitedly.  Whatever he was saying had him speaking too rapidly for Korra and Asami to understand (Even when somebody was speaking slowly and calmly the best they could manage was the vague gist meaning), but it got a lot of attention from everybody else and several started pulling out their own phones, some of them turning to stare at Korra and Asami as well.  Curious, they both walked over to Jeanson, who had her phone out as well, and watched as she used its ability communicate (Their ability to send data wirelessly was something they both still had trouble appreciating, it was so far beyond anything they had seen back home) to bring up what they had called a 'web page', this one for CTV Montreal News and...they both started as they realized that on the web page was that video of Korra stopping the car in the park on their second day in  _Ville de Moores._ The writing beneath it seemed to be a news article about the event, and it talked of how nearly three weeks before an ill woman had suffered a seizure while driving and an unidentified person had boarded the car, saved her life and stopped the vehicle.

 

Most of the people present had already heard the story, but they began applauding again anyway.  Jeanson suggested that they contact the news station and identify Korra (She could be famous!), but they waved off the idea and did their best to disentangle themselves from the mass and retreat to where they could speak in private.

 

This could be bad.

 

Korra and Asami had assumed that only people nearby had seen the recording, friends and relatives that had been told how to locate it, but they knew that 'Montreal' was a city quite distant to the south, and if the video had spread to there it might have gone even farther.  It had been so easy to forget in the past month, but they were not completely welcome in this land, and they expected that they were still being sought by the military.  They could not imagine why they had not seen evidence of a search already, with their pictures splashed across all TV screens of the area.  The most they had ever noticed was a brief news article which mentioned their transportation flight from the North Pole, and it just said that the flight had suffered mechanical difficulties that almost resulted in a crash during a "standard supply run to Station Alert".  Nothing else.  But now....the recording had been jerky and blurry, and Asami doubted that even she would have been able to identify Korra if she had not already known it was her in the image, but if the military was searching the area for unusual occurances.....yes, this was bad.

 

That night they began to make preparations to leave.

 

* * *

 

 

It was at dinner that they broached the subject to the Firmin's that they were planning to leave.  Henri had left for another business trip (Apparently these were quite frequent; the details had not translated very well, but he was some sort of travelling salesman) so it was just Kunik and Pete again (It was in the last week that they had learned her preferred 'Pete' to 'Petuwaq').  They tried to bring it up casually, but apparently the two had learned Korra and Asami too well in the time they had spent together, and saw right through it.

 

"What's wrong?" Kunik asked.  "Are you in trouble?  We've never tried to pry, but are you running from somebody?"

 

"No, no trouble," Korra said, doing her best to lie convincingly (Which was not very convincing), "but we have imposed on you for too long and it's time."

 

"We've wanted to explore your land," Asami chimed in, "and thanks to you we can understand enough to get by.  We are also ready to begin looking for a way home."

 

"Look, whatever your problems are you can tell us.  We'll help you,"  Considering what he had seen the two of them do, Pete was not sure exactly what he _could_ do to help, but he was willing to try.  "We don't care if you're in trouble with the law."

 

It actually took a while for them to understand what 'in trouble with the law' meant (Idioms often do not translate very well), but they both shook their heads.  "It's nothing like that, but it is time for us to go.  For our own sakes and....and for yours."  _That_ got a reaction, and for a while Kunik and Pete spoke together too quickly and intensely for Korra and Asami to follow, apparently arguing over....something.

 

Finally, Kunik turned back to them with a resigned expression, "Our concern is not an issue, you do not need to go."

 

Korra felt tears begin to well up behind her eyes, touched that this woman who was still a relatively new acquaintance could be so welcoming, and at that moment even the thought of going home did not seem as appealing as just staying with these wonderful people forever, but.... "It is time for us to go."

 

They went back and forth for another ten minutes, with Kunik and Pete doing everything they could think of to persuade them to stay, or at least give more details, but ultimately they accepted that Korra and Asami could not be dissuaded.  "When will you leave?"

 

"Not for a few days," Asami said, as they had no plans to go back to foraging in the forest.  "We will gather supplies and procure transportation.  Do not worry, we are not going to disappear into the night and...and we will keep in contact after we have left.  We have your telephone number and we will also write often."  Like Korra, she struggled to hold back her tears.

 

"Okay," Kunik finally said, "okay.  Just remember that you can always return to us if you have any problems.  Our house is open."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of you were expecting the video of Korra to go viral, so I can't really lay claim to being very original, but now it's out there.


	45. Chapter 45

After deciding that they had to leave, things moved startlingly fast.  The next morning Asami told Mr. Soucy that she could only work for the rest of the week, as her and Korra's time in _Ville de Moores_ was coming to a close and their families were sending them to a different part of the country.  It was obvious that he knew that their story about visiting for the summer was at least partially false, but he did not try to dig the truth out of her.  He was not even particularly upset that she was leaving after working only for a month.  Instead, he smiled graciously and wished her luck, and joked that his repair efficiency was about to drop in half after she left.

 

Korra in turn told everybody that she had been instructing in the bending forms that they would likewise have to halt in the coming days, although she might not have been quite as sanguine about it as Asami was.  Claire's friend Renee had actually learned about a small dance studio in the next town that was used only sporadically and could have been a perfect site for an actual class, and Korra had planned to visit it this week to see if she could use it.  To have the idea of a bending school be _so close_ to realization and then fall apart grated on her, even though they would be leaving the town anyway even if it had already begun.

 

Then, Korra and Asami started collecting what they would need once they left.  They had managed to survive in the wilds easily enough, and could have done so again if need be, but they had no desire to forsake the inhabited world or spend the rest of their lives hiding in the forest.  Plus, though they had been willing to not rush headlong when they had still been trying to understand the people around them, if they were ever going to discover a way home they would need to explore this society, and that could not be done living in the woods.  So, whatever happened, they would be remaining amongst the people of this world ('Canadians' they had learned was the term) and needed to prepare for it.

 

After they had forced what they could into Kunik's unwilling hands for the food and clothing she had given them, Asami had a few hundred 'dollars' collected from working at the garage.  She was not sure of their exact value, but Pete had seemed impressed, especially after he said that it was 'under the table' (What that meant exactly Asami was unsure of, but it seemed to refer to _how_ she was paid).  With that money they gathered what supplies they could purchase; light and flexible backpacks, their own clothing, and assorted bits of equipment and technology they might need (Including English/French and Chinese/French translation guidebooks.  Discovering those had made their conversations so much easier).  Kunik had even gotten them one of the tiny, portable phones everybody else had, explaining that it came with service already pre-paid and they could use it to call back or for emergencies.  All that they brought of their own, which when it came down to it was all that they owned in the entire world, was the hide clothing they had kept, the English/Chinese dictionary and map they had brought from the woods....and Joo Dee's knife, which they still carried.  Even their stone chest they were going to leave behind, as they had learned that people did not pull carts down the street here.

 

Leaving was hardest on Asami, and Korra could tell how badly she wanted to stay.  Korra had never lacked for family.  Her own parents had loved her when she was a child, and after being taken away by the Order of the White Lotus she had grown close to many of their members, even if she had bristled under their restrictions and loneliness; Katara was almost like a second mother.  Then she had come to Republic City and been with Tenzin's family, who had been so open and welcoming, and she had met Mako and Bolin and Asami.  Always somebody there to support her, somebody to be by her side.  For all her difficulties in life, knowing that she was loved had never been one of them.  Asami, however...first she had lost her mother, then her own father had turned against her.  This time with Kunik and Pete and even Henri, filled with just such simple domesticity as eating meals together, learning about the world and laughing, had been a connection to a life that she had been so desperately wanting for so long.  To walk away from that.....but she had Korra with her, so she would not really be _leaving_  her family at all.

 

* * *

 

 

"Korra?"  Claire's voice was tentative, soft, with none of the energy that she seemed to be bursting with every time Korra saw her.

 

"Oh, hey, Claire.  Have a seat, I'm just waiting for Asami to finish up inside."  Korra was sitting out behind the garage, where she suddenly realized she had spent a surprising amount of her time given she neither worked there nor took part in recreational tinkering.  This was to be Asami's final day of work, and they were planning to leave the following morning, so Korra had come by to say her own goodbyes to the crew here, even if she had never quite broken into their clique the same way Asami had.

 

"Yeah, I just saw her.  She said you're...you're really leaving tomorrow?"  There was a catch to her voice, but it was so soft that Korra did not even notice.

 

"We're leaving in the morning.  Our...uh...parents are waiting for us in Montreal."  Even now they tried to keep up the pretense that this was all a planned vacation, although Korra knew that almost everybody (Including Claire) had to have figured out that there was more going on.

 

"That's nice, tell them 'hi' from me.  And...are you going to be visiting again any time soon?"  Now the catch was deeper, more noticeable, and Korra realized that she was fighting back tears.

 

"I'm not sure, our plans aren't very set right now.  We'll probably be traveling around Canada for a bit, seeing the sights, being tourists." Korra tried to put a little bit of cheer into her voice.  "I'll send you a postcard, and we've got one of those cellies now so we can call, too."

 

Claire could not keep down a snort of laughter at the term 'cellie'.  "Thanks, I'd like that, but...I'm gonna miss you."  Now the tears started to fall, tiny pinpoints of water.

 

"Hey, don't worry.  I'm sure we'll stop back sooner or later and...why don't you call that dance place Renee was talking about?   I'm sure they can tell you how to find some kind of school near here to keep up your training, I know how much it meant to you and..."  Korra trailed off as Claire's tears started flowing a little bit faster, and she got up to pull her into a tight hug.  "Don't worry," she said again, "it will be okay.  Whatever it is, it will be okay, we'll---" and she was suddenly caught off guard as Claire leaned in to kiss her.

 

It was tentative and soft, like she was afraid that she would scare Korra off, and she held it for only a fraction of a second before she pulled back, tears still welling in her eyes.  She opened her mouth to say--

 

"Claire, what the _hell_?  We talked and you said.... _what the hell?_ "  John had walked out of the garage just then and stared at the two of them in shock.  When she saw him Claire stepped back from Korra and seemed to lose control, sobs shaking her body and her eyes began to stream freely.  Korra did not know what was going on, but she stepped between them and turned to face John, with her arms held out.

 

"Okay, hold on, let's all just--" but John stomped forward, face twisted in what might have been disgust and might have been anger.  "John, I don't think Claire--"

 

"Shut up you _pédé_ ," that was not a term Korra had heard before, but it clearly was not complimentary, "you did this and...and..." now he was definitely angry and he raised his arms.

 

Korra was absolutely confused and shocked at this bizarre transformation.  John had been one of the very first people they had met in this town and he had been nothing but helpful.  He and Claire had invited them to join their circle of friends mere hours after their first meeting, he had inveigled his father to give Asami a job, and Asami had said that he had been amazingly friendly and helpful while she was working.  Where was this sudden hostility coming from?  This anger?  Was he actually going to _attack_ Claire, his own sister?  Was he going to attack _Korra_?  Over a stolen kiss?  Was that it?  Could that possibly be it?

 

Apparently so, as when he reached Korra his arms came up and...friend or no, Korra was not going to let him put hands on either herself or Claire.  Grasping his wrist, she leaned and twisted and he crashed to his knees with a gasp as she forced control from him.  Bending his arm around behind his back she held him for a second, then turned to look at Claire.  "What's going on?"  But Claire could not respond, standing there as she was wracked by silent sobs.  "Claire?  Claire!"  The shout seemed to finally break through, "What is going on?"

 

"I'm sorry, it's my fault, I'm sorry, it's just...I couldn't let you leave without...I know it's wrong, but Korra you're so amazing.  You're **so** amazing, and I _know_ it's wrong, but...I'm sorry..."

 

Realization slowly dawned on Korra, and even if she did not understand everything (The customs of this place were still a vast mystery) she understood enough.

 

Ever since they had realized that cameras could be almost anywhere in this world Korra had done her best to restrain herself from bending at all, even when they were alone, and even over something minor.  Now, however, without letting go of John she raised her right hand and began to draw together the tears that were running down Claire's face, streaming them over to herself as Claire and John gaped at her.  When Claire was dry Korra ribboned the tears together into a flowing circle, then released John and stepped in front of him, holding the water in front of his face.  "These are your sister's tears, John.  The water of her body.  A body with the same blood as yours, from the same flesh as yours.  Your ways are still strange to me, and there is much I do not understand, but this I **do** understand: The tears of your family should be soothed, never started.  Never caused by your own word or deed.  The bonds you are born with are carried with you for all of your days unless _you_ sunder them."  Korra did not know where these words came from, her mastery over the language was no mastery at all and they did not sound liker her regardless, but they were right and true.  As she spoke she let the circle of tears expand, and expand, until now it was flowing around John's head instead of in front of his eyes.  Then she let the waterbending collapse and the tears dripped down onto him.  He jerked backwards, falling over onto his back, and Korra leaned over him.  "Family, John.  Always, family."  And for one instant, one flickering instant that was contained just between two moments of time, her eyes glowed and she shone down atop him.  He jerked again, and would have fallen again if he was not already on his back, and closed his eyes.

 

Korra turned behind her to Claire, who was now staring at her with an open-jawed expression that could not seem to decide if it wanted to be fearful or reverent, and Korra felt a cold shiver down her spine as she remembered Joo Dee with that same expression before her collapse.  Korra also remembered all the times that Claire had stared at her and now recognized what had been going on behind her thoughts.  Slowly, she stepped over and pulled her close into a tight embrace, resting Claire's head against her shoulder.  "It's okay. It's okay,"  Then, moving as carefully as she would to avoid frightening a baby bird, Korra leaned over and kissed Claire on her cheek, just as lightly as Claire had kissed her before.  She heard Claire gasp at that, and in a brief moment of levity Korra thought that she might float away with how much she inhaled.  As she stepped away Korra smiled, and was relieved to see her crack the tiniest smile in return.  "You're a wonderful, beautiful woman Claire, and there is nothing to fear from the draw between two people.  You have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to regret," and she was rewarded with the tiny crack of smile coming close to being an actual grin.

 

"Good.  When John wakes up....I hope he'll be better, but no matter what _he_ says, remember who _you_ are.  Okay?"  And when Claire nodded, Korra took her arm-in-arm and walked her back into the garage.

 

* * *

 

 

With a satisfied sigh, that had also a touch of regret, Asami reached up and slammed closed the hood on the last car she was likely going to be working on for a while.  Fittingly, it was another one of those cars they called a 'Honda', just as Pete's car had been when she first started poking around, and it seemed proper that it be her final bit of repair work (Just a minor adjustment this time, barely enough to sate her mechanical urges).  Now that it was done, however, it was time for her to be leaving.  Carefully replacing all of the tools and parts she had used and collected during the day she cleaned her station, gave everything one last check over, and walked over to the office for her final goodbye with Mr. Soucy.  She had said goodbye to John a few minutes ago (Although she noticed that he had been extremely withdrawn and taciturn the past week, as if souring on their friendship) and he had walked out the back of the garage to say goodbye to Korra, so Mr. Soucy was all that remained.  Knocking on the door, she stuck her head in.

 

"Mr. Soucy?  I finished with the final tune-up and I think that's everything.  Before I left I wanted to thank you for all you've done for me over the past month, I appreciate you giving me a chance here."

 

"Come in Asami, come in.  You don't need to thank me, believe me.  I wouldn't have given you the time of day if you didn't deserve it, this shop keeps a roof over my head and I wouldn't just give somebody a job because my son asked even if he was some other son I just discovered I had.  You've got a natural gift for mechanics, if you spent another six months here I could retire and leave the whole place in your hands."

 

She laughed at the compliment (he was always very effusive) and leaned against the door frame.  "Well, even so, thank you anyway, it's been very nice having a place to go every day.  I said goodbye to John and Claire and everybody else already, so I think it'd time I head out."

 

"Before you go, there's the matter of your final pay."

 

"You don't have to, you've already--"

 

"Tut-tut, you did the work, you get reimbursed."  However, instead of reaching into the drawer where he kept the small strongbox that he paid her from each week he stood up and walked outside, beckoning her to follow him.  There, in front of the garage, with Steve actually finishing up a polish, was the motorcycle she had been restoring for the past two weeks.  "She's not exactly what I'd call tip-top yet (I _really_ do not want to know what they were doing with this baby before they brought her to me), but she rides smoother than she has any business riding given how far she had to come, and I figure it's only fair since you put in almost all the work."

 

Asami was staring at the bike in something very nearly approaching shock.  She had never imagined, never even _considered_ , that she would get something like this.  She had not even worked here for a full month, nowhere close to the value of a motorcycle like this, and she did not even have a valid license for this territory, and...Mr. Soucy reached out and quite literally placed the keys in her hand.

 

"To help you reach your parents just a little bit more easily than riding a bus," and he winked, and Asami wondered why they had ever bothered with such a ridiculous story.  Laughing wildly she pulled him into a hug, squeezing tightly, and then Korra and Claire walked out of the garage in time to see her gingerly reach out touch the bike... _her_ bike.

 

"What's this?"  Asked Korra.

 

"It's _ours_ , " replied Asami, and she grinned as widely as she had laughed loudly a second ago and pulled Korra into a bright, fierce kiss.  She could hear Mr. Soucy and Claire and Steve cough and mumble and shift their feet, but she did not care, and when they broke apart she turned back to Mr. Soucy again.  "Thank you so much."

 

"Just remember, whenever you're back in town I expect you here to help carry the slack," and he was smiling, and to Asami it looked like Claire was actually smiling even wider than anybody as she looked at her father's grin.  Then Asami mounted the bike, which started on the first kick, and she paused to just savor the thrum of the engine and power running through her.

 

The feel of Korra's arms around her as they rode back to the Firmin's house was everything she had imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing: This was actually where this story has been heading all along. My original concept, what I'd always planned to be the plot, was the adventures of Korra and Asami as they wandered the earth on their wicked cool 'hog, having whacky escapades in different cities and towns with nothing but the clothes on their backs. However.....I'm something of an overly-analytical, pedantic ass. So, I kept backing it up a _little bit further_ to explain this-or-that, and we've wound up with a 75,000 word prologue.
> 
> First I had to explain just how it was that they got to this world, and I wanted it to make sense. Most fictional-characters-to-the-real-world stories (That don't involve them literally stepping out of the TV) I feel never have a good justification for why they wound up where they do. It's often important or famous locations (New York City, or London, or Hong Kong), or places familiar to the author (Their hometown), with no explanation as to why the inter-dimensional transmat took them _there_. Even if they try for a thematic connection (In this instance, for example, having it be somewhere in Asia to match the cultural influences of the show) I wonder, why this place and not that? If they're in China, why not Japan? Or India? If they're at a Buddhist temple, why not something Taoist? There's often nothing connecting a part of the fictional world to that part of the real world. However, one universal constant are geographic poles: Every planet has a North Pole and a South Pole (Unless we want to say that the planet is actually flat), period, and in both our world and the _Avatar_ world there are also strong commonalities between the geographic and magnetic poles. With all of the mythological and spiritual relations to the poles (In real life and the show), including even the Spirit Portals themselves, **boom** , that's why they connect.
> 
> Once I got to that point, however, I had to deal with getting them _off_ the North Pole, since (As I actually went over a bit in the comments a few days ago) the real North Pole is **much** more inhospitable than the poles of the show. Realistically speaking, without just having Korra go into the Avatar State and dodge the problem that way I don't see how they could have possibly survived on their own. Then I realized that CFB Station Alert is only 500 miles from the North Pole, and whatever spirit whatsits that brought them here would show up as elctomagnetic thetans or whatever, so the idea of them being picked up by the RCAF was the obvious solution.
> 
> Once I got to _that_ point I had to deal with getting them away from the RCAF, since two strange women at the location of what looks like a new weapons test or something would get them contained and questioned, however politely. So, we got the break-out, and from there we got them in the woods since if they landed in a city there'd be a pretty instant panic and there'd be authorities on them right away, and then...
> 
> Well, you've all seen what happens next. One thing lead to another, and because I tried to have it all connect logically it's pretty much time to end the fic already and we're just now hitting what I was trying to do from the beginning. Whoof.
> 
> So, thanks for sticking with me all this way, and let's see if I can actually manage to make this concept (The entire @#$%ing _point_ ) be something entertaining and fun to read.


	46. Chapter 46

The heavy oak door opened quietly and a uniformed NCO stepped out.  "They're ready for you, ma'am."

 

"Thank you, Corporal."  Lieutenant Judith Moon straightened up from her chair, checked to make sure her dress uniform was in its proper place, and preceded the NCO into what was essentially a courtroom.  It had none of the trappings of a trial of course, just a standard review office, but the three officers behind the desk had all the bearing of a military tribunal, and nobody was trying very hard to conceal that fact.  That came as no surprise, the lead-up had been quite clear, although what  _was_ surprising was that Lieutenant-Colonel Monke sat off to the side with....was that Major-general Antoine Saint-Amand?  She had never met him in person, but she recognized him nonetheless, and his presence was not something she had counted on.  Still, the sight of them did not change anything, and she halted before the tribunal, saluting crisply.  "Sirs, Lieutenant Judith Moon reports."

 

"At ease, Lieutenant."  Major Simmons sat in the center, which indicated he would probably be functioning as spokesman for the tribunal, although whether that meant he was actually in charge of the situation was another question entirely.  "Please, have a seat."

 

"Thank you, sir."  Moon sat slowly, first to make sure that she did not convey any nervousness, but also because she was still slightly uncertain on her feet.  Her rehabilitation over the past month had made great strides, but she was nowhere near her physical peak.

 

"Lieutenant, we have asked you here for a final review of your testimony regarding the circumstances surrounding the detection, capture, holding and subsequent escape of the unidentified foreign nationals referred to as 'Korra' and 'Asami Sato'.  Before we begin, do you have a statement you wish to make?"  Simmons' tone was guarded, and she was not sure if he was offering her an opportunity to pre-emtpviely defend herself, or if he was trying to get her to expose herself.  Either way, she shook her head and said, "No, sir, I have no statement to make".  Had she heard Colonel Monke and General Saint-Amand mutter something to each other at that?  She could not be sure, and dared not turn her head to check.

 

"Very well.  Lieutenant, you have stated definitively and for the record that you had no prior contact with these women before their arrival at Station Alert, where you were assigned as a guard and chaperone by your direct superior, Captain Margaret Sawyer.  To your knowledge these women had no functional understanding of either spoken English or French, nor any other language we are familiar with, and you are completely ignorant of how they communicated with each other."

 

"That is correct, sir.  I would like to point out that much of that is based on the statements of the Canadian Forces Language School, which had many conference sessions attempting to decipher their language, since I have not been trained in translation or foreign interactions.  It is true that I never noticed any recognition from them in response to any verbal communication, and for my part their words were completely incomprehensible."

 

"How did you learn to speak with them?"

 

"I never did, sir.  They recognized writing in Chinese on a lamp in their quarters and brought it to my attention, and from there to the CFLS, but I am not fluent in either reading or writing Chinese.  One of the technicians, his name was...Michel Rastrand?  I am not sure about that, please check...had a translation dictionary which I used to write out some very elementary instructions, but that was the extent of my conversation with them beyond hand signals."

 

"Were you, at any time, privy to information about their history, country of origin, or intentions?"

 

"I was present during their interviews with Colonel Monke and the CFLS and overheard several of their statements, but I did not receive any information beyond that.  What they said during those interviews, sir...I do not feel qualified to judge.  They referred to several people and organizations with which I am not familiar, and I do not know if they were perhaps speaking in a code system or there were translation confusions between them and us.  As it is, I do not have any knowledge of where they came from, how they got to the Arctic Sea, nor what their intentions were."

 

"Lieutenant, you have answered this next question several times already in our prior interviews, but I am going to ask it again to make sure that there is no confusion on either your part or any later analysis of this review.  Do you have any knowledge of the device Korra used to breach the transport during their escape, or any information regarding persons they may have contacted before or after their escape to arrange for their collection and transportation and seclusion after landing?"  The question was asked flatly, with no inflection, and she would have had a better chance identifying intention from a mechanical speaker than she did the officer in front of her.

 

"No, sir.  I state unequivocally that I have absolutely no information on how they managed to breach the hull of the airplane, what preparations they had taken prior to their actions, or how they managed to evade pursuit afterwards.  I still do not recall our transportation after landing, and I cannot say if it was in a ground or air vehicle, and I was not even aware that we had travelled any significant distance until I was informed of such after my rescue."

 

Now there was  _definitely_ muttering between Monke and Saint-Amand, and she could feel her stomach tightening as the Captain to Major Simmons' right pulled what looked like a plastic bag containing several pieces of paper out of a folder and passed it over.

 

"Lieutenant, these are two letters that were passed along at the time of your rescue.  They were both given to the civilian flier who radioed for the medevac, a Johann Sensonite, one with the instruction that it be passed on to you."  She had heard nothing about a letter or note, and made sure to keep her expression impassive despite her growing apprehension.  "They are both written in Chinese, and have both been translated.  The letter for Mr. Schmidt was brief and simply an expression of gratitude for his contacting the rescue services.  The letter directed to you was much more exhaustive, and thanked you for all of your assistance since their arrival at Station Alert.  Included in there was specific mention of your help in learning about our country, and your friendship."

 

She wanted to close her eyes, to take her time and reflect on just how much Korra and Asami had not appreciated how their simple word 'friend' would appear.  Instead she kept her gaze level, steady just above the heads of her tribunal.

 

"Sir, I have not previously been made aware of these letters, and so I cannot respond to them in an informed manner.  I will be happy to review them both and offer my interpretation, but at this moment all I can do is reiterate what I have already stated: I had no contact or knowledge of these persons prior to their arrival at Station Alert, I cannot identify what language they spoke, and I have no explanation for their motives or methods in escaping Air Force custody.  Furthermore, as you have already noted, I was assigned as their chaperone by Captain Swayer, along with several other airmen, and made no contact with them beyond my required duties.  I also made several reports to my superiors that I appreciated a potential threat based on their behavior which I took to indicate previous combat training.  Though you have not asked directly I will again make an unequivocal statement for what is I am sure a considered thought: I did not assist in their escape and made every effort to prevent it, and was in fact pulled out of an airplane without prep or parachute in the performance of those duties."  Her voice was still as even as it had been all along, bound by discipline and decorum, but there would have been no way to disguise the heat she was feeling.  Whether that heat was directed at the questioning officers or somewhere else, however, was a different question.

 

The three officers of the tribunal looked back and forth between each other, and they might have been communicating telepathically given how they spoke not a word, but they had apparently reached some sort of decision.  Major Simmons turned back to her and said, "Lieutenant, your actions and devotion to your duty beyond expected measures has been noted and is appreciated.  At this time we are not making any accusations, nor have any charges been filed alluding to collusion between you and these persons.  However, there remain several points of confusion in these matters that must be clarified."

 

"Yes, sir, I understand.  What was the next point of clarification?"

 

* * *

 

 

In her quarters later that night, a private room that should have seemed a luxury after the cramped barracks at Station Alert and then the wilderness and hospital, Judith Moon sat cross-legged on her bed, with her hands resting on her knees and her eyes closed in quiet contemplation.  It was not meditation, or at least not the structured and metaphysical meditation she had learned of, but instead just an attempt to order her thoughts and make sense of all that she had seen and experienced.

 

She could not tell her superiors what she had seen after leaving the plane.  That was not an option.  It was not even that she would not be believed or be mistaken for delusional, although that would certainly be the case, it was that....what  _had_ she seen?  It had been almost a month since she left the recovery ward, almost a month as she tried to accept the fantastic events, and even now....that same fiery, twisted, awful and glorious image came to her.  Those two majestic women (And how beautiful they looked in her memory, like a pair of goddesses) not bathed in light, but  _emitting_ it.  Shining like the sun and the moon, like every fantasy she had ever had as a child and every desire she had ever felt as an adult.  Her breathing was coming rushed now, sweat starting to seep from her pores, and with a smothered gasp she twisted from her position, breaking her concentration and panting as she held her head in her hands.  It was all she could do maintain control, to hold the sights at bay when she needed to function, and when she was alone....sometimes she wondered if she had indeed gone mad, and sometimes she wondered if it was madness to try and step away from their light.

 

What could she possibly say to anyone to convey just what she had lived with, the beings that she had touched with her own hands?  If she tried, she was half afraid she would just babble incoherently, and half afraid that she would wind up quoting scripture and shouting from a pulpit.  The more time passed, the more she felt her control slipping away, the more she felt subsumed in the drowning mire of this....whatever this was.  In no time at all, she was sure, she would not even be able to hold onto her control for the brief moments when she was still expected to act like a soldier.  It was almost a relief when she had realized that soon, those moments would no longer come at all.

 

She looked culpable, complicit and a conspirator.  She had spent the most time with them at Station Alert, been saved from falling to her death and delivered to rescue during their escape, and her story of the forest had so many holes in it that she was half-surprised she had not already been formally charged.  Her career was over, even if the court-martial had not taken place yet, and even if they never did make out a case for treason.  If she somehow avoided a dishonorable discharge she would still be on the beach, and  _then_ what?  The RCAF had been her life for more than fifteen years, her family more than her own family after she had left home at seventeen, and after she had mustanged up two years ago she had thought that it would be her path for decades to come.  What else did she have in the world?  What other place could there be for her?  What else  _was_ there?

 

That same image tried to resurface and she beat it down, refusing to let it in.

 

At least once it was all over, she could stop fighting this.  Let it just take over completely.  No need to hold on to whatever she could for when she was let out of her box to report and discuss and 'clarify'.  Then she could just surrender and.....when the image came up again she let it, and her eyes closed as her mind blazed with the starshine and the unearthly horror and beauty of gods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another brief Lieutenant Moon interlude. This and the previous chapter with her were originally going to be told in dialogue, flashback and implication when she reappeared in the main story, but like I said for that one, I've missed her. I just wish I could bring her out for something more than emotional collapse.
> 
> Also, cookie for whoever gets the hidden reference in this chapter!


	47. Chapter 47

"Are you sure you know how this works?" Korra was eying the motorcycle with something almost like distrust.

 

"What?  Of course I...Korra, we rode it _yesterday_.  It's how we got back here." Asami was crouched next to it, sealing one of the saddlebags with the last of what they were bringing with them.

 

"I know, but now there's so much more stuff on it, so it's going to be heavier, and....and we're going to be riding for a lot longer, do you know all the rules of the road here?" Korra was no longer eying the bike itself, but her voice had the same warble, and Asami realized that it was not the motorcycle itself that was bothering Korra.  She just did not want to leave any more than Asami did.

 

"I know all the rules of the road, and how to control the motorcycle, _and_ I have an atlas, **and** Pete showed me how to use the phone Kunik got us to get directions.  We're going to be fine...and so are they."  As she stood up, Asami turned around and pulled Korra in close; not strong or hard, but just to hold her tenderly.  "We're going to call them to check in, and they're going to tell us how their lives are going, and we're going to see the whole entire world.  So don't worry and let's get goi--oh, I almost forgot!"  And Asami dashed back into the house, leaving Korra standing a little confused and with her arms still comically wrapped around the space where Asami had been.  Less than a minute later Asami came out carrying what looked like a long, wrapped package, six feet long and very slender.  When Korra eyed it Asami just said "It's a surprise" and slid it into a holster along the bike's side, with it sticking up almost like a pennant.  " _Now_ we're ready," she said, and she and Korra turned to Kunik and Pete, who had been watching them get ready for the past few minutes.  Or rather, Kunik had been watching them, while Pete seemed to be fighting a valiant but ultimately futile struggle against sleep, as he seemed on the verge of nodding off even while standing up.  It was still early, barely after dawn, and only Korra and Asami's imminent departure had managed to rouse him at all.

 

"Goodbye, thank you so much for everything you've done," Korra said as she hugged them both.

 

"We'll keep in contact and let you know where we are, so no need to worry," Asami, repeating what she had just said to Korra, as she hugged them as well.

 

"Make sure you do," Kunik said, "and remember to stop by when you're in the area again."  She held them just a little bit longer each, almost not wanting to let them go, as if they had been another pair of daughters instead of just houseguests for a month.

 

"Hmmghm," Pete said, and when Korra poked him in the stomach he seemed to jerk awake and become a little bit more coherent, "I mean, have fun out there, and I hope you find what you're looking for, I really do.  And if you do find a way home, don't forget about us."

 

"Never", Korra and Asami both said together, and then they turned back to the motorcycle, loaded down with the few supplies they had, and distinctively marked with that long package Asami had just brought out.  Together, they climbed on, Asami started it again on the first kick (No matter the world, not matter the equipment, no matter the tools, _Asami Sato knows her engines_ )....and they were off.  In seconds Kunik and Pete were out of sight, and moments later the house itself had been obstructed, and they both turned forward to what lay ahead.

 

The ride back from the garage the night before had been relatively short ( _Ville de Moores_ really was a small town, barely more than a village), but now they headed out of town, towards the closest highway and they just _drove_.  The engine thrummed beneath them, broadcasting its power, and as the roads lengthened Asami opened the throttle wider and....she had not realized how much she had missed this until right now.  She had helped move cars around the garage, and started and stopped more engines in the past month than she had ever thought she would, but she had not felt this kind of power and control since before they even went to the Spirit World. The sensation as she leaned into her turns, the pull as she accelerated, the smoothness as she coasted on a downgrade, all combined into a sense of euphoria as she reveled in the movement.  Across her stomach, just like the night before, she could feel Korra's arms gripping tightly.  Not too tightly, not enough to hurt, but just enough for her to know that Korra was there, enough for her to feel that they were connected now, together in more ways than just the physical.  She felt her lips split apart and her mouth opening wide into a grin that nearly split her face in two.

 

Behind her, Korra was thinking not about this ride, but rather about the first time she had sat behind Asami as they drove.  It had been almost the first thing they had ever done together, only shortly after they had first met, back when Asami had been dating Mako and Korra (To be perfectly honest) had not thought too highly of her, dismissing her as just a pretty face with a wealthy father.  But when Asami had suggested they go to the Future Industries test track, and then she had convinced Korra to ride backseat with her in one of the new racers they had been testing....that had been when things changed.  It was four years ago now, and they would not even begin to realize what they meant to each other for almost a year afterwards, but as she had sat in the rear of that racer, feeling the engine thrum, she had begun to realize the power that Asami could control, and the skill with which she could wield it.  They had faced off against one of Future Industries' professional drivers, who did this all day every day, but Asami's victory in the race had never been in doubt, the thought that she might lose simply did not make sense.  Korra had only been a passenger, unable to effect the outcome in the slightest, but she had trusted herself into Asami's hands, letting the beautiful, passionate, adventurous woman carry them both to safety and victory.

 

Now, Korra leaned in just a little bit closer, and held on a little bit tighter, and her own grin spread ever wider as she felt the same power and control and boundless spirit break free and they soared down the road like they were flying.

 

* * *

 

 

They stopped for lunch (Or maybe late breakfast) a few hours later.  Asami wanted to look over the mechanics now that they had ridden the bike for more than just a mile, and after so long out from behind the control of a motor vehicle she wanted to make sure they did not overdo it on their first leg.  In the future they would probably find themselves eating at restaurants along the way (Although that raised the question of what they would do for a continuous source of funds after they had eaten through the money they had), but for their first rest break they pulled off to the side of the road and made a picnic out of the food that Kunik had prepared for them.  They unrolled the moose pelt which they had held onto (Properly washed after they had gotten out of the woods, of course), and they sat side-by-side, just watching the sky and other cars drive by, fingers intertwined and enjoying each other's silent presence.

 

"So, what do you have all wrapped up?" Korra asked.

 

"I told you before, it's a surprise."  Asami's voice was teasing, almost smug.

 

"We've been stuck together for two months now, and we're right now setting out to explore an entire world, and you're keeping _secrets?_ "  Now Korra had affected a tone that was almost scandalized as she needled Asami.

 

"Not 'secrets', a _surprise_.  I've been working on it for a bit, but it's...it's not ready yet."

 

"Well, now I _have_ to know what it is," and Korra got up to reach for the object of their discussion.

 

"Korra, _no_ ," and Asami quickly scampered over and grabbed it before Korra could take hold of, cradling it against her body.  "It's not ready and...and I want it to be _ready_."

 

"Okay, whenever you think it's ready," and Korra raised her hands to acquiesce....and at that exact moment there was a sudden gust of wind and part of the wrapping (That had been held in place against the motorcycle during the much-windier ride) blew off.  Asami glared at her, but Korra's expression was **so** innocent that she could not help but laugh, and she then reached up and finished unwrapping it.

 

"Like I said, it's not ready, but..." and she held out to Korra a glider staff.  "I know I said you shouldn't bend if you can avoid it until we're sure that we're okay, but there's always emergencies that come up, and even if there aren't I would never ask you to never bend again and...I wanted you to have this ready, just in case.  I know how much you miss flying, and I miss watching you fly and this was something I could do for you, so...."  She wound down and hesitated, as Korra had not said anything and was just staring at the staff.  "I'm still working on it, so if there are any changes you want..." and then she noticed the tears welling in Korra's eyes.  Before she could say anything else, Korra had dashed forward and pulled Asami close again, so tightly that Asami briefly wondered how she could breathe in the grip, but she would have never dreamed of breaking free.

 

"It's _perfect_ ," Korra said, and Asami could hear the honesty in her voice.

 

When they had disentangled Korra inspected it closely, and saw that Asami was telling the truth when she said it was not completed yet.  Only one of the wing mechanisms had been completed, the other still needed to be connected to extend and retract and support the weight of a rider.  How had Asami made this?  How could she have done it without Korra noticing?

 

"I mainly worked on it at the garage.  Their equipment wasn't perfect, metalworking and woodworking are two very different arts, but they were good enough for something like this.  I've been fashioning the parts for a few weeks now, and there was a store that had all the fabrics I could ever need.  I should actually be able to finish it in just another day or two, I made sure to finish all the shaving before we left, it's just the connections and stitching that needs to be done."

 

Korra picked up the fabric that would be stretched taught when the wings were at full extension; it was a dark blue, even darker than the wings of her old glider, and on one side of each wing she noticed that Asami had stitched in the wave-and-moon emblem of the Water Tribe.  On the obverse, however, was the gear logo of Future Industries, and when she saw it Korra crooked an eyebrow at Asami, who blushed.  "I just wanted to be with you when you used it, even if you were flying far away, and this way you could bring a little bit of me with you.  But don't worry, once I'm done it's yours."

 

And Korra grabbed Asami again, this time softly, "No, it's ours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually meant to build up the glider over the past few chapters for a reveal here, but it just completely slipped my mind. Can you all do me a favor and just pretend that I had a single sentence in each previous update saying something like "And Korra noticed Asami buying a six foot tall staff" and "Korra wondered why she needed so much fabric"? Just to help it along? Thanks.


	48. Chapter 48

They decided not to push too far on their first day, as Asami was still getting a feel for the bike and Korra was just getting used to riding on a motorcycle at all, so they broke for camp as the sun was still slowly setting.    As they had driven south the towns had been slowly increasing in both size and frequency, they had been told that the population increased much more in that direction, but there were still vast stretches of woodlands and untouched fields along the side of the road.  When they decided to halt for the night they simple pulled off to the side of the road and stepped into the soft grass.  It was still warm out, if the seasons in this world followed the seasons back home they would have said it was summer edging into fall, and they no longer feared being discovered as they slept, so they did not bother with Korra erecting an earth tent.  Instead, they unrolled their sleeping mats directly under the stars.

 

As Korra readied their dinner (Kunik had packed them meals for two days, mainly sandwiches and a few water-then-heat stews, and now Korra was boiling water), Asami had drawn out the glider and continued its assembly.  A small tool kit had been one of their most expensive purchases over the past week, but they had both recognized that they would need it sooner or later, and it was perfect for the precision attachments of the wing-folding mechanisms.

 

"So, Asami, just how  _were_ you planning on working on that in secret now that we're moving again?"  A direct heating with firebending could not be seen, and Korra had their small pot boiling in her hands without fear of them being recorded (How widespread  _were_ cameras in this world?  Did the people live with being recorded  _all the time_?).

 

"I'd actually hoped to have it finished before we started, but it took me longer than I wanted to shape everything, and I could only work on it during my free time at the garage since I wanted it to be a surprise."  Asami was leaned in close, meticulously connecting the springs that would expand the wings.  "Maybe I would have worked on it at night while you were sleeping?  Ah-Got it!" and with a twist of her wrist both wings extended fully and locked into place.  "There, that's that done.  Give me an hour to finish up and you'll have your very own, brand new, handmade airbending glider."

 

"Make that two hours, because first you're going to eat this dinner that I have been boiling," and Korra passed over a bowl of the stew, punctuated by an audible stomach rumble.

 

"Two hours it is," Asami said, and they dug in with gusto.

 

After they had nearly finished, Korra finally broached the subject that they had been studiously ignoring for a while now.  "How do we get home?"

 

When they had first arrived on the frozen tundra their thoughts had been dominated by the immediate pressing needs of survival, and once they had been rescued they had been preoccupied with understanding and living in this strange world.  Weeks had passed since then, but even with the low-stress, non-dangerous lives they had been living recently, they had not devoted their efforts to discovering what had happened to them or gotten them here.  While they had been in the woods with Joo Dee they had realized that they must have found some new, third world, different from the mortal world they knew and unconnected to the Spirit World, but they knew very little beyond that, and it was time to change that.

 

They had both learned over the years not to dwell on things out of their control, and to not let their inability to fix a problem dominate their thoughts, so as long as they were stranded on the ice, or isolated in the woods, or living quietly in  _Ville de Moores_ , they had been able to settle in the present.  Now that they were on the move again, and heading into the heart of the land, they had to start working on the problem.

 

"I don't know," Asami said, "I'm still not even completely sure how we got here.  I did some research on the internet," she still remembered how she had felt when she had realized  **how much** information they had access to.  The entire world within reach of their fingertips.  She could not imagine the famed Library of Wan Shi Tong holding more knowledge, "and I couldn't find anything at all like this.  At least, not anything that Pete didn't say was made up by crazy people."  She also remembered how she had felt after Pete explained to her not to trust the web-site she had found which said it could transport you to an alternate dimension.  "The only clue I found at all was on some weather and science articles, about a massive burst of electro-magnetic radiation that was detected at the North Pole with no identifiable source.  Some people were saying it was some new weapon from an enemy nation, and others that it heralds some sort of upcoming cataclysm.  I worked the timing from their calendar and it would have been exactly when we stepped through the Spirit Portal.  I think...I think that's what everybody at the military base was talking about when they were asking what we knew about radiation, they were up there investigating that and found us." **  
**

 

"Electro-magnetic radiation?  Between the two of us you're the technical expert...."

 

"I don't know, Korra, we've only just begun to understand electromagnetism, and a lot of that was Varrick and his spirit-vine research.  I don't know what could have caused what everybody here detected, and I don't know how it pulled us here instead of to the Northern Spirit Portal."

 

"Still, it's a lead, and that's more than we had before."  Asami was about to dismiss Korra's forced optimism, when she realized that Korra was not forcing anything at all.  "Either that electromagnetism  _caused_ us to come here, or it was caused  _by_ whatever brought us here, and either way it's somehow connected.  So, if we tracked down  _that_ , we'll be one step closer to the answer."  She said it with such simple confidence that Asami could not help but nod in agreement.

 

"Absolutely, it's a start.  Once we get to the cities we can find a scientist who's studying this, and follow the news, and solve the whole thing."

 

"Besides, I'm the Avatar, the bridge between worlds.  Who better than me to help us get home?"  And she again said it as such a statement of fact that Asami saw no way to disagree.

 

"And until then we have this wonderful motorcycle, an entire world to explore and....and we've got each other."  They had finished eating by now, so Asami put down her bowl and leaned over to rest her head against Korra's shoulder.  "What else could we need?"

 

"I can't think of anything at all," and Korra let her own head rest on the top of Asami's, feeling her soft hair against her skin.


	49. Chapter 49

With a last _thrum_ of energy, the motorcycle coasted to a halt in the gas station service area and the engine cut out as Asami walked it next to the pump.  The station might have been a twin to the one they had stopped at when they first emerged from the woods and Kunik had picked them up, the same dilapidated look, but then Korra and Asami had been guessing at its purpose and fascinated by the products and wares on display inside.  Now, after much familiarization, Asami calmly began to refill the tank (With her eye on the meter as it _ding_ ed up the total, remorsefully watching their limited funds drain away) as Korra wandered inside to see if there was anything they might need (Probably not since they had just started yesterday, and they probably would not have been able to afford it anyway, but you never knew).  In a further parallel to their first contact with the people of the area, there was another man leaning against the wall next to the door, smiling to Korra as she entered, holding what looked like a stack of papers under his arm.  Inside, Korra gazed at what she now knew were variously sweet and salty, but almost uniformly unhealthy, snacks and drinks and assorted roadside essentials.  She considered buying one of the packages of what was known as 'beef jerky', as even though nobody had been able to explain to her what exactly 'jerky' meant she knew that it was dried and could be carried for lengthy periods, but before she had made up her mind she heard the _ding_ of somebody entering the store.  Turning, she saw the man who had been standing outside approaching her with a welcoming smile, but she also noticed that he was subtly extending his arm, reaching out to....hand her one of the pieces of paper he was carrying.

 

"Hey there, are you passing through town?"  Korra and Asami were still by no mean completely functional in French (They had communicated with their friends in _Ville de Moores_ in a mixture of French, English, and a lot of pointing), but they had made great strides in the past month, enough to at least get by.  After they had learned how their written words worked, and what sounds the letters were supposed to make, they had been able to give voice to a lot of the words they had memorized from their dictionaries.  Despite the need to piece it together in her mind, Korra had been able to understand him.

 

"Yes, we're going to Montreal," she replied, wary of this stranger, but she took the piece of paper he was offering.  On it, in very large letters, was written "SUMMER CELEBRATION", with the writing beneath in much smaller letters listing names, locations and times which meant nothing to her.

 

"Oooh, not local, eh?"  Even when they could make themselves understood, Korra and Asami both realized that their accents were completely impossible to conceal, "Well, if you've got a few hours to spare, over at the town square we're having a festival this afternoon.  Music, food, games, all sorts of fun.  Come by with a flier and it's good for a free hot dog at the concession stand."  Behind him the door _ding_ ed again and Asami rushed in, face determined as she walked over, but he just smiled again and handed her a flier as well.  "Hey there, I was just inviting your friend here to the Summer Festival this afternoon.  A lot of the bands of the local kids are going to be performing, and there's no charge to listen."  He kept smiling as Asaimi hesitantly took the offered paper, then nodded to them both and walked out of the shop, standing next to the door again.

 

Asami looked at the paper confusedly, the turned to Korra.  "After that first time, I thought he was going to...."

 

Korra looked between Asami and the door, then down at the paper.  "I know, me too....uh.....want to go?"

 

Asami looked back at the paper, seeming to read it for the first time, then shrugged.  "Well, I'll need to check my social calendar, but if I have the time," and she laughed as Korra shoved her shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

The flier had included directions on where to go, and they easily found their way to the town square and the promised festival, which was already underway.  Many heads turned as they rode up, with some looking at the motorcycle and others at the riders, but like the man who had given them the flier their expressions were all friendly and welcoming, and a few even waved.  As they looked over the festival, they saw...a festival.  It was definitely of this world and not their own, but if the trappings had been switched this could have been the Glacier Spirits Festival or Avatar Day; booths of games were set up, fried foods were being served from carts, children were running around screaming and shoving one another in irreverent glee, and it all looked innocent and fun.  Along one end of the square a stage had been set up, with what were clearly instruments, and that presumably was where the music would be coming from.  Korra reached out to grab her staff from the holster on the bike's side--now that Asami had officially bequeathed it to her, she planned to take it everywhere she possibly could--and together they walked over to join the festivities.

 

"First order of the day is that you win me a stuffed animal," Korra said, guiding Asami towards one of the game booths.

 

"I need to win _you_ an animal?  I just gave you a glider!  Why can't you win _me_ an animal?" but Asami let herself be guided without resistance.

 

"Because I need to see how big the toy you win for me is so I know how much bigger I need to go for you, of course," and Korra's logic was unassailable.  They spent a few minutes confusingly trying to understand how to turn their money into game tickets, but once that was done Asami found herself holding several small balls and staring at what looked like a precarious pyramid of stacked cans.  Presumably this was meant to be a difficult challenge of precision accuracy, but for somebody who had her focus and control....the pile collapsed on her first throw, and she presented with a flourish a small creature (The proprietor had called it a 'beaver') to Korra.  Korra accepted it with the gravitas of a gift of state, then dashed over to another booth, which had prizes at least twice as big since she now knew what to aim for.

 

"I don't know if I should be flattered that you want to make sure you get me something big, or if I should be insulted that you just want to top mine."

 

"Well, if you're giving me a choice, I say go with flattered, that way it makes me look much more suave."  Korra had stopped in front of this game, and now held several small rings as she looked over a field of bottlenecks.  Like the pile of cans it was probably supposed to present a challenge, but she had long since mastered the smooth toss required and....her first ring skipped right off the bottlenecks and clattered to the floor, as did her second and third.  The fourth, which she had **_really_** focused on, skipped off the first bottle, hopped to a second one, and _then_ fell to the floor, and Korra found herself out of rings and with no plush toy.  After she grumbled, and slammed down another pair of tickets, she found herself with four more rings.  A minute later she was again ring-less and still toy-less.  "What the...?  This game's rigged!  It has to be!  Give me one of those, I deserve it!" and she was halfway over the counter, grabbing for one of the hanging toys as Asami struggled to hold in her laughter and the proprietor tugged back on the back-half of the animal that Korra had snagged.  They went back-and-forth almost good naturedly (This must have happened to the proprietor a lot, and if Korra had **really** wanted to steal the toy she would have _had_ the toy), before Asami stepped forward and put down another two tickets.

 

"Don't worry Korra, I'll avenge you."  Asami took her rings, made sure to center herself and gauge the proper angles and...all four rings were on the floor again.  "Hey, this  **is** rigged!"  She made as if she was going to climb over the counter herself, but the proprietor was ready this time and he had himself square in the way, legs planted wide and looking like he was _relishing_ the thought of her trying.  Asami and Korra could not contain their laughter any more at that, and they walked off leaning against each to stay upright.  Just before they turned a corner out of sight at the next booth, however, Korra turned around and made a quick pulling motion with her right arm, and the proprietor was surprised by a _tink_ ling sound behind him, and he spun around to see one of the rings perfectly settled atop one of the bottles.

 

They made their way over to the concession both for their lunch and the free hot dogs (They had had them before and knew they were good, but had been quite concerned the first time until Claire had explained that they were not made from actual dogs), then walked around and enjoyed the sights of the festival, of everybody having fun on what was a beautiful summer day.  There were people up on the stage now, likely preparing for the music soon, but for now there were just the sounds of laughter and conversation and the shouts of victory and sighs of defeat from the game booths.

 

"I wonder what they're doing?"  Korra wondered when she caught sight of what looked like a group of kids throwing paper in the air in the open area just past the last of the game booths.  As they wandered over, they saw that the papers had been folded into various shapes and designs, likely intended to glide on the wind, but mainly just serving to cause them to spin to the ground after they were tossed.  To one side there was one young boy, he could not have been more than ten, who was studiously turning out folded shape after folded shape and passing them over to the kids who were doing the throwing.  None were doing very well, but you would never have been able to tell from the way they were all clapping and shouting, picking up the pieces and throwing them over and over again.  At the sight of their energy and joy and determination, Korra could not help but be reminded of the airbender kids, and she stepped over to the group.  "Hey everybody, watch this!" she said in French, and when she had their attention she twisted her wrist and the staff expanded into the full glider.  They all "oohed!" at that and began to crowd around, but she held up her hand and took a few steps back.

 

The thought of her taking off in the glider was out of the question, there were certainly hundreds of those little cameras all around and who knew what the crowd might do, but that did not mean there was nothing she could do to show off.  With a little two-step run she swung her arm and hurled the glider into the air, catching it on a gust of wind and it shot off into the sky in a large curving loop.  The kids _exploded_ at the sight of the glider soaring up, and as it completed its loop it came back right to Korra, who caught it easily and spun it around back into its staff form.  Immediately afterwards she was inundated by a tide of children, all clamoring to touch the staff and clapping and cheering and slobbering all over her.  With a laugh she let the staff be passed around between them, and when it got back to her she expanded it and set it soaring again, this time in a double-loop.  By now the kids looked to have shouted themselves into exhaustion, and as they collapsed to the ground with wide grins plastered on their faces Korra and Asami drifted away, back towards the stage where it looked like they were about to begin.

 

The performers looked young, even younger than Korra and Asami themselves, and they were visibly nervous as they walked up to their instruments.  They spoke briefly to the audience and received polite applause, and then brought up their instruments and...the heavy, pounding noise they released was like no music Korra and Asami had ever heard, filled with such a raw energy that for a second they felt the urge to cover their ears.  The vocals were screamed, almost shrieking, but there was no anger to them, just passion.  The instruments were strange, sounding almost electrical in some instants and shrieking out their own cacophony, but it all blended together.  The kids were clearly not expert musicians, even not knowing how the song was supposed to sound there were noticeable points of hesitation and key mistakes, but they performed with the vitality that came from loving what they were doing.  Within a minute Korra and Asami had worked their way up to the very front of the crowd, standing right in front of the stage and letting the rushing music just wash over them and through them.  A minute after that they were dancing, throwing themselves about in abandon after they had seen several other young members of the audience congregate up front and begin to move as well.

 

It was formless dancing, fast and reckless and exhausting, but it was also liberating.  They were twisting and spinning about, immersed in the crowd that was just as caught up as they were, and the kids playing the music redoubled their efforts when they saw them.  When the song wound down a few minutes later Korra and Asami were panting and dripping with sweat, but neither would have moved from that spot, and in moments they had launched into another energetic, freeform explosion of motion as a new song had begun, just as bristling with passion as the last.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time the festival wound to close in the early evening, after a dozen different groups of kids had taken the stage with a dozen different styles of music, Korra and Asami were as exhausted as they ever had been during their trek through the woods, but they were also laughing and smiling and clapping along with the entire rest of the crowd.  Now the booths were being closed up, and the instruments were being put away, and people were slowly drifting away from the town square and back to their own homes.  As they walked back to the motorcycle, planning to at least ride to the outskirts of town before bunking down for the night, Korra and Asami leaned into each other, partly to support one another in their exhaustion, and partly just to feel themselves together.

 

"Not bad for a first date," Korra said, and she felt Asami stiffen beside her.

 

"I hadn't thought of it like that," she said, "after spending so much time together I just....you're right, we never really did have a normal date, did we?"

 

"We've never really had the opportunity, everything kept _happening_ , but now....." Korra trailed off to silence, and squeezed Asami just a little bit tighter against her.

 

Asami leaned into the squeeze, and as it began to slack she pulled herself, holding Korra against her.  "Well, Avatar Korra, this was by far the best first date I have ever had.  It's almost like we've been together for months already," and she warmed at Korra's small chuckle.  "Will you do me the honor of a second date?"

 

"Miss Sato, it would be my pleasure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that, logically, they _had_ to have heard some kind of fast-moving, modern music during their stay in the town (And I even saw some people mentioning it in the comments), but it never seemed the right time to bring it up, and I didn't want to just give it a passing wave with "And they remembered how shocked they had been the first time they heard rock and roll a month ago". I crave your indulgence.
> 
> I don't know why, but for some reason I always wanted the first song Korra and Asami heard to be "Love Bites" by Halestorm. I've got no concrete reason, and until I looked the band up while writing this chapter I didn't know anything about them besides the name, but I've heard the song and all along I've been thinking "That needs to be their intro."
> 
> This is also probably going to be the last pure-fluff entry for at least a few chapters, be ready for some (Moderate) action and drama in the next three or four entries. So...a day maybe?


	50. Chapter 50

"Right now we're here," Asami placed her finger on the map, slightly north of the label marked 'Montreal', "and we should reach the city in about two hours.  Gas shouldn't be a problem getting there or for a few more days, but if we're going to try and reach another city we're probably going to need more money to fill up, particularly if we plan on eating beyond tomorrow."

 

Korra leaned in close to look at the map and frowned slightly.  "I don't think we're going to be able to do any hunting while we're there, and they probably wouldn't like it if we did.  Did I ever tell you about that time I went fishing in the park in Republic City?"

 

"And that's when you first ran into Gommu, yes, you told me."  Asami's voice was just a tiny bit tired at the story, but the small upturn at the edge of her mouth belied any real frustration.  "Hopefully we won't need to run from the police during our meals here, I'm sure we'll be able to make some money somehow."

 

They were sitting at a worn wooden table on the side of the road, next to what looked like an old restaurant that had closed down years before.  The doors were locked and the grass overgrown, but the seats were sturdy and it served very well as a place to catch their breath and rest along the road.  They had the remains of a modest meal spread before them, and despite their almost exhausted monetary situation the day was bright, the sun was warm, and they looked forward to what they would be discovering in a few hours.

 

"Hey, do you hear that?"  The air had a very distant hum, and Asami perked up as she thought she picked out the sound of another motorcycle heading their way.  They had passed several on the road during their journey so far, but it was clear that four-wheeled vehicles were the dominant modes of transportation.  Now, it sounded like there were several different bikes traveling in concert, and sure enough a formation of more than a half-dozen appeared up the road, riding on the center line and filling up both lanes.  As they approached Asami's smile turned down slightly as she looked them over, and she took in their bedraggled appearance at a glance.  Their engines all roared loudly, but she could easily pick out artificial enhancements and and modified mufflers on almost all of them; these were not high-performance engines, these were shoddy devices that had been made to look (Or rather,  _sound_ ) impressive.  As they rolled past one of them seemed to catch sight of Korra and Asami, and with a wave the entire group slowed and came to a stop. _  
_

"Good afternoon, ladies.  That's a nice bike resting over there.  Where's its rider?"  The speaker was big in almost every sense of the word; tall, wide and round; and his voice was a rough growl.

 

"That is our motorcycle, we are driving to Montreal."  Asami's tone was cautious as she watched them approach, taking in their movements.  They looked slovenly, but they had the air of a gang of thugs and criminals.  Triads, maybe, but with none of the false sophistication she was used to.

 

"Yours?  Can't be.  What are two beautiful ladies such as yourselves doing riding a thing like that by your lonesomes?  Ain't your man nearby?"  They had heard similar remarks several times over the past few days, usually followed up by a stammered apology when whoever was asking realized that Asami really was capable of riding the bike all by herself, but it was obvious that there would be no stammering here.  The other six riders had lined up behind the speaker as they walked over, and it was obvious that they were doing everything in their power to look big and intimidating.  That might have worked, too, if Korra and Asami had not faced down much larger and more dangerous foes over the years.

 

"We do not have a man," Asami said as she stood up, with Korra rising at the same time.  "That is our motorcycle alone."

 

"No man, huh?  Well, maybe we'll have to do something about that.  It wouldn't be right, leaving you two all alone out here.  Why don't you come along with us?  I'm sure my fellas would be more than happy to share their seats with you," and he laughed, an ugly, low sound.  There was no warmth in his laugh, nothing of friendliness at all.  It was not even like the insincere smile of the man they had encountered at that first gas station coming out of the woods, trying to cover up whatever his true intentions were, this was meant to be a threat all its own.

 

"We are capable of taking care of ourselves and we have no need of any assistance.  Thank you for your concern."  They had each stepped slightly away from the table now, giving themselves room to move, and readied for an attack.  These men, whoever they were, had stopped with the explicit intent to do violence, whether they had found a man with them or not.  They had all the signs of petty, brutish bullies, who enjoyed hurting others just to make themselves feel superior, and if there had actually been 'their man' present all that would have changed was the type of violence involved.  "Please get back on your motorcycles and go, we wish to be alone."

 

"You hear that, fellas?" and he gave that same ugly laugh, which was now echoed by the others around him, "They want us t--oofh!" and his sentence cut-off midway through as he apparently tripped over his own two feet and fell flat on his face.  Asami, however, noticed that a small outcropping of rock seemed to have sprouted out of the ground to trap one of his feet right in mid-step, and she grinned out of the side of her mouth at Korra.  They had spoken about this before (Well, not this situation  _exactly,_  but about how they should act in the event that they were in danger) and they decided to continue to hide her bending as much as possible, but there was no reason not to use it where applicable. The other six men stared at his downed form in confusion for a moment, then lumbered forward.

 

For the first time, Asami found herself really missing her electrified glove and feeling the effects of its absence as three of them bore down on her.  The men rolling towards her were big and mean and slow, and all three factors posed a pretty serious obstacle to a quick and easy disabling.  Most people did not appreciate how simultaneously resilient and fragile the human body is; despite what the movers would show, a single blow to the head might disorient somebody and cause them to lose focus, but not knock them into unconsciousness.  Any kind of blow to the head strong enough to leave them immobile for an extended period would likely cause brain damage, or even immediate death.  So, that meant that they could keep taking whatever damage you were giving them without stopping, up until you crossed a line and went too far.  Disabling a limb was generally safer, the odds of accidentally killing somebody with a broken arm were much less than a brain hemorrhage, but that required time for a grapple or precision for a blow.  The end result was that, unless you had an overwhelming physical advantage, disabling somebody in a fight took _time_ , either to set up a single crippling blow or to wear them down with general injury.  One-on-one, Asami had no doubt that she could have immobilized any of these men without difficulty, but the problem facing her now was that while she was busy breaking one of them, the other two would be piling on her from behind.  With her electrified glove there would have been no problem, but without it.....silently, she made a note for later to see if she could figure out how the chi-blockers worked.

 

Instead of waiting for them to close in, Asmia lunged forward, leaning low and transferring to a slide aimed right at the legs of the center thug.  As he leaned forward, reaching out to grab her, she slid one leg between his feet, grabbed his shirt front with one hand, his pant leg with the other, and simultaneously pulled and  _h_ _eaved_.  Already overbalanced and moving forward, his inertia kept carrying him and he tumbled end-over-end, rolling forward and landing on his back.  Hard.  He clearly had no idea how to fall properly as he made no effort to roll with the motion or disperse the weight, and he made a wheezing sound at the impact and began groaning.  The two men on the side turned slowly, and Asami quickly downgraded the threat they posed as she saw how long it took them to react.  By their scars and bearing they were no strangers to violence, but they clearly only had experience with two kinds of fights: Where they beat on somebody small and helpless, or where somebody much bigger than them beat on  _them_.  They were as unequipped for an actual _fight_ as if you had asked them to fly without airbending.  She waited for them to close in, deciding to use their own size to her advantage instead of letting them overbear her.  As the first one reached her he swung a clenched fist in an obviously-telepgrapged assault (She almost felt sorry for them now) and as he swung he kept running forward, clearly intending to overwhelm her if she dodged the blow. The other had closed in directly, reaching for a grapple.  To their credit they were actually pressing their attack together, not waiting for one to fail before trying something else, and if they had better training they might have been able to capitalize on their advantages, but as it was they only got in each other's way.  Asami parried the obvious blow and dodged to the side to avoid the charge, which simultaneously kept her out of reach of the grapple, and then stepped in.  As she had reflected before, actually  _ending_ a fight required either continuous damage, or a well-place crippling blow, and with their sheer mass she did not want to risk injuring her hand with a half-hour of punches.  So, as the charging assailant shuffled past her she pivoted, planted herself firmly, then raised and brought her foot down right against the side of his knee.  The joint popped with a grotesque noise and he collapsed instantly, as if he was a puppet with his strings cut, and began thrashing on the ground while high-pitched whines rushed from him.

 

She turned to face her last assailant, who at his partner's screams finally seemed to realize that he was not the dominant combatant here, but he clearly saw no other options but 'keep attacking'.  With a noise that was probably meant to be a battle cry, but came out more like a groan of exertion, he shuffled in again--only to wheeze and drop to the ground when Korra stepped in from the side and planted a clenched fist firmly in his solar plexus.

 

She had faced her own opponents much more directly than Asami had, and seemed to have taken the earthbender mentality to heart this time.  Instead of dodging or maneuvering, Korra had quickly and efficiently taken them all out by the application of direct force, letting each one close in and then deflecting their strikes and retaliating with a strong, focused attack.  They were all three on their knees, gasping for air and struggling to breathe, and if they would recover sooner than Asami's foe with the broken knee, it had been taken her less time and allowed her to disable Asami's final attacker as well.

 

"You....you goddamn _chiennes!"_ They were not familiar with that exact term, but it was clearly unflattering, and it came from the very first assailant, the one who had been doing the talking.  He had climbed back to his feet (There was that resilience, falling flat on his face had only held him back for a few seconds) and was now brandishing a metal device at them.  From the TV and movers they had seen in  _Ville de Moores_ they knew it was some kind of weapon, but it was slightly different from the type borne by Joo Dee and the other soldiers, with a circular center that rotated as they saw him squeeze.  " _Vas te faire encule!_ "

 

The device roared with an explosion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang One Percenters always causing problems for everybody else, and giving honest riders a bad name. It's a disgrace.
> 
> For the curious, Asami's opening flip is inspired by Suki's disabling of the Fire Nation guard while escaping from the Boiling Rock prison, seen here:
> 
>  
> 
> It's also been pointed out to me that this is actually chapter 50. Can you believe? Wow, thanks for sticking with me for so long.


	51. Chapter 51

"It's okay, it just...it's okay...don't worry...it's going to be all right...please, Korra, just breathe for a second..." the burn was slowly spreading, radiating out from her shoulder and spreading across her torso, and at its source it was intensifying to a blinding thunder, but Asami tried to keep her voice as calm as she could.  Despite the warm dampness she could feel beginning to soak her clothing she kept her soothing tone, as if it was Korra lying on the ground and not herself, as she took in a horrifying tableau.

 

Korra stood beside her, with the metal weapon in her hand (Had Pete said it was called a 'gun' when they had seen it on TV?), and suspended in the air before her was the man who had shot Asami, panic and terror distorting his features as he clawed at a metal coil that was wrapped around his throat.  They had been like that for a few seconds now, long enough for Asami to recognize the torturous war raging within Korra, and she began to fear that Korra might not listen, might decide to just _react_ , and might just.... ....the dangling man lowered to the ground, his feet sinking into the dirt like it was water until he was submerged to his shoulders, whereupon the coil around his throat grew slack and fell away.  As he gasped and struggled, immobilized in earth now as solid as rock, Korra turned back to Asami.  "Don't worry, I wouldn't.....not like _that_...oh, Asami..." and she dropped to her knees beside the prostrate body and began calling water to her hands.  She was rushing, moving in jerky motions that hampered more than helped, and she forced herself to slow down and began drawing again, properly, with the long, wide motions of waterbending.  She collected moisture from the air, and drew it from the grass around them, and as soon as she had enough she began to work a healing and--no, not healing yet, the metal was still inside Asami.  It was small, so small that it seemed like it could not possibly be a danger, but Asami lay bleeding before her and she could feel the metal still lodged within her body.  Before she began the healing process, Korra had to remove it, and do it without causing even more damage.

 

This was not an injury she was used to dealing with, a bending wound normally did not leave debris behind that had to be removed like this, not even earthbending, but she had done something similar before, had she not?  She had taken the metal poison out of her own body in the swamp and she could draw on that experience and...no, that had been a liquid metal, and she had been able to feel it within her own flesh, this was a solid lump, and Korra's mind briefly flashed to the horror of her ripping a new hole in Asami's body.  She shook the thought away, refused to let it paralyze her--Nothing would be gained by hesitation, and doing nothing would be just as bad as getting it wrong.  She focused, holding her hand over the wound and just feeling, determining where the metal was and how best to get it out, and she began to draw it out.  She moved it in tiny increments, bit by bit, too softly to tear anything, but always back towards the surface and--now Korra held it in her hand, a misshapen lump of metal that looked too insignificant to have caused this much grief, and she tossed it aside.  Turning back to Asami, she layed her hands over the gaping wound and began to mend it closed.  So much blood had been lost, and there had been so much tearing as the metal burst its way inside, but it was not _too_ much.  She drew more water to her, coating Asami's torso, and she had it seep inwards, beginning the internal patching as the surface sealed shut.  She held the healing for as long as she could, until the worst of the damage was patched, then let it slide away and fell back on her haunches with a sigh.

 

Groaning, Asami sat up, reaching over with her other arm to cradle the shoulder and gingerly feel the skin, as if testing to see if it was really whole again.  It was still rough, almost like clay that was still being molded into shape, but whole it undoubtedly was.  She groaned and rotated her shoulder, then turned to Korra, "I feel---" and she got no further before Korra had bowled her over.  They said nothing as they held one another, and Asami could feel Korra's body wracked by tiny movements that might have been sobs or laughter.

 

"I'm sorry, I tried to catch it, but it was _so fast_ and....I'm sorry..." Korra was winding down, and Asami was muttering soothing nothings into her ears.

 

"It's okay, Korra, I'm fine now, you saved me anyway.  I'm just glad you didn't...that you didn't...." she could not even bring herself to finish the though, and she held on a little tighter.

 

"I wanted to, oh by all the Spirits how I wanted to, but that's not something I'll give up.  Not for somebody like _him_ ," and Korra finally pulled away from Asami to look over at the buried assailant, who looked to have passed out given his lolling head.  Past him, the other six men were also trussed up, their arms and legs submerged into the earth for restraints.  Rising, Korra walked over to them and splayed her fingers, and the ground around them shifted and pulled them all side-by-side, next to the apparent leader, who was still covered up to his neck.  "You," Korra singled out one of them, "Why?  We had done nothing to you, you do not know us.  _Why_?"

 

"You...you can't....let me go!"  He thrashed, or made a reasonable facsimile thereof when he could not move his arms or legs, "Let me go!"  At a gesture from Korra he slid backwards along the ground, screaming as it happened, and she turned to the next one.  Before she could ask a question he was shouting, obscenities and threats and lewdness, and she slid him back along the ground as well.  The next one was already making noises, but these ones were mewlings of pain, and Korra realized that he was the one whose leg Asami had broken.  She hesitated, then withdrew his injured leg from the ground, relieving its pressure, and stood over him until his eyes focused on her.  "Why?" she asked again.

 

"Look, you crazy little _chienne_ , Yves waved us over, that's it.  What do you expect?  You're out here _juste putain attente_ for somebody to come by, if you don't want it then what are you even doing?  Now, you better let me up or--" he screamed as the others had when he was shoved back, and Korra turned her back on the rest without even asking them any questions.  These were not enemies targeting them or following their trail, they were just lowlife scum, trash from any of a thousand gutters that might have....might have....she bent down and picked up the weapon, then looked over to where Asami was still sitting.  Asami probably wanted to study it, and even Korra would have liked to understand how it worked, but...she clenched her fist and crumpled the weapon into a ball and let it fall at her feet.  Not this one.  Not now.

 

Korra walked over to their motorcycle and picked up one of the energy bars they had purchased the day before (They tasted slightly better than the Future Industries ration bars they had lived on on the ice, and they were similarly light and easy to carry), bringing it and a cup of water over to Asami.  "Here, you need to eat, recover your strength, you've...you lost a lot of blood".  As Asami gratefully devoured the bar and water as if they were a gourmet meal, Korra began to draw together more water and settled in over her shoulder.  The bleeding had been halted and the holes had been patched, but there was a lot of fine work still to be done, and she settled in to the slow, grueling work of shaping Asami's shoulder back into its proper form.

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, Asami was back on her feet and was tenderly working through her full range of motion, as Korra now gorged herself to regain her own strength.  Her shoulder was still sore, but she could move, and all that remained of the previously gaping wound was a vicious scar.  Even after all these years, and all the grand displays of power, sometimes it still amazed her at just what applied bending could accomplish, especially at Korra's own hands.

 

"What do you want to do with them?"  Asami nodded her head towards the assailants, who were still bound as they had been all day.

 

"What can we do?  If we contact the local police we will need to explain who we are, and we can't do...anything else."  Korra still looked like she _wanted_ to do 'anything else'.  "I think we have to just leave them here."

 

"Leave them?  Let them free to wander around and attack somebody else?"  Asami's voice was not accusing, but questioning.

 

"Well...maybe not _completely_ free..." and Korra walked over to their parked motorcycles and methodically metalbent each one into obtuse, twisted shapes, then turned back to their prisoners who were staring at her with wide eyes.  Even their leader, Yves, who was now awake and doing his best efforts to be threatening and intimidating, which were failing quite miserably as he was only a head sticking up from the ground.  "Listen to me, you cowards.  Never again.  Next time I will not be so forgiving, and I **will** be there next time."  When she saw them all nodding, she smiled...and then she began to go through their pockets.

 

" _Korra_?" Asami almost shouted, "What are you doing?"

 

"Hey, you said we're almost out of money, and it's the least they can do for us.  A...contribution...to our personal expense accounts."  She pulled out everything she could get her hands on, piling the money and various gadgets, devices, and geegaws together for sorting later.  "This way we can at least survive in Montreal," and she smiled.  It was a small smile, but infinitely better than she had looked hours before.  Asami opened her mouth to protest, but she found herself with no real objection to make.  These people had **shot** her, after all, was taking money for gas too much to ask for recompense?

 

Still moving her arm gingerly, Asami joined Korra and began to sort through the piles that she had already pulled out.


	52. Chapter 52

As Asami slept, Korra sat next to the fire and watched the light of the flames play across her face.

 

They had ridden only another hour after they left their impromptu battlefield, just enough to put a comfortable distance between them, instead of pushing on to the city like they had intended.  The time delay meant they would not have reached the city long before sundown, leaving them to stumble around the unfamiliar locale in the dark, and after what had happened they both decided it would be better to rest well and start the day fresh.  Especially with the lingering soreness in Asami's shoulder that would take more healing sessions to clear up; once the bullet had been removed the healing was just grunt work, the kind of brute force that Korra excelled at, but not even waterbending was magic.  So, they had pulled off the road (Further off than usual, to make sure they were not spotted by any passersby) and settled in for the evening.

 

Now it was long past midnight, and Asami had been sleeping the deep, motionless sleep of recovery for hours, and Korra could not stop staring at her.  After she had lay awake far into the night Korra had moved out from their sleeping mat so as to not disturb her, and in the flickering firelight her mind replayed what had happened.  The explosion of the weapon, the almost-soft buzz as the bullet had flown through the air....Korra had never imagined that anything could move so _fast_ , faster than the Future Industries airplanes and faster than the sharpened metal strips that Kuvira's army had specialized in throwing with cutting force.  She had tried to catch it, and she _thought_ that she might have succeeded in shifting its trajectory away from Asami's heart, but it seemed to have flown in the emptiness between heartbeats.  Even if she had been prepared, knowing what was to come, she might not have been fast enough to stop it.  For all the power of the Avatar, she still had to see and think and react, and with the way these weapons acted....whatever cameras they came across in the future could record what they liked, she was not going to wait and let Asami be hurt again.  Not like that.  When Asami had been lying there, splashed with red like a painting as her attacker had screamed at them, Korra had felt like the world had stopped, like time itself had stilled, and for a brief instant of horror she had feared that this was _it_.  After only two months together, after the previous years of neither of them saying or doing what they had both desired, so much lost time and fear and doubt and misery, when they had finally come together, for it to end _now_....

 

Korra walked over to the motorcycle and reached into the saddlebag where they collected all the metal they had taken from their assailants; hand-held chains that were clearly intended as weapons, knives, and another one of those gun weapons.  Much of it was crude and ill-worn (Why did this world seem so ill-caring towards metal?  So much rust and dirt and wear.  Even without bending, she could not imagine Zaofu ever falling into such disrepair), but they had thought it best not to leave these items behind.  Leaving the gun, Korra cradled the pile in her arms and walked back over to the fire, laying it all out on the ground.  Then, one by one, she picked them up and began to mold them.  She had never had an artistic talent, never understood Suyin's ability to blend her bending with design and grace, but she knew that something had to be done with these.  They could not just remain the dirty lumps of harm that they were.  So, Korra washed them, running them under the water that she called up out of the air.  She submerged them in the ground and had the earth rub them clean, scraping off every mark and remnant of what they had once been.  She bent them in her hands and stretched them into strips and wove them into circles, and in an hour they were all fresh and raw as they had been when their ore had been dug out of whatever mines they had come from, with no legacy of what they been since then.  Then she began to weave them together, working steadily and quietly by the firelight, until there was nothing at all left.

 

It was almost dawn now, and she could feel that she would be exhausted come the following day, but she finally lay herself down beside Asami and was able to lie still.  In moments she was asleep, deep and calm, curled up against her back and resting together.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami woke slowly, groggily, and even though it was already light out (And probably had been for a while) she felt as if she had only fallen asleep a few moments ago.  She pulled herself off the sleeping mat and blearily looked around, catching sigh of Korra kneeling before a large, steaming bowl.

 

"Good morning, how are you feeling?"  As she spoke, Korra was slowly stirring the pot, circling her arms above it.

 

"Like I only had a fifteen-minute nap after running around Ba Sing Se," and Asami shambled over towards the cooking breakfast (Or maybe lunch, now).

 

"That's the healing sickness, something as big as what happened yesterday drained a _lot_ of your chi during the mending.  Come on, get some food into you, build up your strength, and you'll be back in top form before you know it."  Splaying out her fingers, stew rose up from the pot and neatly dropped into the small bowls set out.  As Asami drew closer the tantalizing smell wafted over and her mouth began to water as she reached her own bowl.

 

"That smells amazing, what is it?"  All they had had were some of the energy bars and other pre-packaged food that were good for travel, but not necessarily intended for pleasure.

 

Korra smiled, but also shook her head.  "It's probably not as good as you think, right now you'd enjoy Gommu's street gruel as long as it was warm."  She grabbed her own bowl as well, "I thought we both deserved something special this morning, so I've been experimenting with some of the dried meats they have.  Re-soaking jerky isn't what I'd call the proper way to start a meal, but a warm stew is miles different from chewing on a chunk of meat."  Tentatively Korra raised a spoon to her mouth and tasted some of her own creation, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.  "Wow, that's actually better than I had hoped."  Asami, for her part, had not even bothered to disagree, and was simply shoveling spoonfulls into her mouth at breakneck speed.  In moments, they had both emptied their bowls and re-filled them.

 

Afterwards, Asami leaned back and let herself settle, already feeling worlds better than she had when she had woken up.  "I don't care if it is the healing sickness speaking, that was wonderful, Korra.  Thank you."

 

Korra waved it off, coloring slightly, as she finished her own bowl.  "It's nothing.  Besides, this might be our last time to do some real cooking for a while, we're probably going to be eating at fancy restaurants once we get to the city," and they both chuckled.  The money they had reclaimed the day before (And they both tried very hard _not_ to think of it as stealing) would go a long way towards keeping their motorcycle fueled and themselves eating, but that group had not been composed of wealthy industrialists.  The money in their pockets only amounted to a few hundred dollars, and Korra and Asami had begun to realize how little that could be if they splurged on expensive luxuries,

 

Rising to her feet, Asami was about to walk back over to the sleeping mats (They had to be rolled and stored before the day's journey began) when a glint of sunlight on metal caught her eye, and she turned back to Korra.  "What's that?"

 

As Korra followed Asami's glance she colored again, before shuffling her feet and walking over.  "Last night I couldn't sleep, I thought about what had happened and what _might_ have happened and I....we took a lot of metal from those guys and I couldn't stand having it with us, dirtying everything we did, so I....what I mean is...." Korra stooped down, picking up one of the metalworks she had crafted the night before.  "I made this for you.  For _us_.  For....everything" and she held it out.

 

Asami took it gingerly, as if afraid she might break it if she held it too tightly, and marveled at what she was holding.  It was intricately woven, a necklace of intertwined metal strips and tiny loops; the patterns were simple, but they flowed together and around, widening on one side and dangling down.  It looked vaguely similar to what the Beifongs had worn in Zaofu, but instead of wide planes there were braids and circlets strung together, and it felt almost as light as air.  "Oh..... _Korra_...." The name came out in a whisper, but with such vitality that Korra felt her heart thrill at the way it was said.

 

"I made one for myself as well," and she held up the twin to the one she had just given Asami, "but it's like you said with the glider, I want something of mine to be with you.  Wherever you and I go, whatever else we find out in this world, we'll always be together.  And I wanted those...those _animals_ from yesterday, to not have anything left with us.  They've been wiped clean, ground out, and now it's just us."  Korra reached up and draped her necklace over her own head, letting it rest against her chest, and watched Asami slowly do the same.  Then, with nothing else to say, they closed in together.

 

* * *

 

 

Later, as they were cleaning up their camp, Korra paused and called over to Asami.  "Not to backtrack on what I said earlier, but there is _one_ remnant from yesterday.  This was something I didn't want to carry around with us, no matter how much I'd cleaned it," and she held up the gun they had taken.  She made sure to hold it softly (She had noticed that it seemed to be activated by squeezing part of the handle) and keep it pointed towards the ground, and she passed it over to Asami.  "I thought you'd want to study it before I flattened it under a rock."  Korra clearly wanted nothing more than to crush it right there, but she also knew that if they _understood_ these devices they would be much better equipped to handle them in the future.  Asami took it as gingerly as she had taken the necklace earlier, and with only the tiniest hesitation to indicate that she still felt from yesterday, before she put it on the ground and began to pour over it.

 

This weapon, and many like it, had been featured heavily in the TV and mover shows they had seen over the past month, but their depiction had been so wildly different from one to the next it was almost worse than if they had been coming in completely cold, since they did not know what was correct and what was fiction.  Determined to start from the basics, Asami began to disassemble the weapon and inspect it piece-by-piece.  Soon, she had its constituent parts laid out before her.

 

As she examined the bullets, shoulder twinging at each movement, she called out, "I think...Korra, I think this is a _chemical_ weapon.  I've read about these, the Fire Nation built them towards the end of the Hundred Year War to use as cannons, but they only used them to launch bombs, never to throw solid metal like this, and they were never this small.  See the back of these bullets, here?  There's an explosive stored in there, and when this trigger is pulled it ignites and the expanding gas pushes the bullet out of the barrel.  It's like....it's like when you throw something with airbending."  She could not keep a little horrified respect from creeping into her voice.  "Without bending these people have had to invent completely new ways of making weapons, nobody back home has ever tried anything like this at all.  Not even the Equalists.  I can't even imagine how much they've had to refine their chemistry to be able to get something this precise."

 

"Is there any way to _stop_ them?"  Korra did not let herself feel impressed, she just wanted to know what they could do about it.

 

"Oh...I think any kind of metalbending should work just fine, just like you've been doing, I can't imagine they can build these things without _some_ metal in them.  Even just breaking the trigger or this catching-lock" she fingered the connection that would bring down the metal point and ignite the explosive charge "would make it just a useless lump of metal.  It's still just a piece of technology, like anything else.  If you hit it hard enough, it will break," and she let the pieces she was holding fall to the ground.  She looked to Korra, who nodded, and the pieces of the gun and its bullets sank into the dirt, vanishing from sight.  Then it was gone, and they both stood a little bit straighter as they turned back to their camp.

 

When they got on their motorcycle later, they set off down the road without a backwards look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I realized while writing this chapter that Asami never got physically hurt during the show's run. She was certainly the show's whipping post as bad things kept happening one after the other (Her father, Mako, Varrick, etc.), but she was never actually injured. No limps or bruises or splints, despite her being front-and-center during all the big fights.
> 
> Interesting.
> 
> Also, just to clarify (Because this was even a thought that I had as I was re-reading this), this is NOT a Water Tribe betrothal necklace. I'm not saying that's never going to happen, and I'm not even saying this might not have some relation, but we're not at that point yet.
> 
> \---------
> 
> Rest in Peace Leonard Nimoy. Pioneer and Icon of Science Fiction, fantastic human being.
> 
> Final tweet: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" (Live Long and Propser)
> 
>  
> 
> God speed.


	53. Chapter 53

During their time in this world, much of what had originally been strange had become familiar, and Korra and Asami could even see how it connected to much of what they knew back home.  Despite how clear and vibrant the images were, they knew that the movers they had seen did not show spirits and creatures that lived in this world.  They no longer wondered if people were watching them through a TV (Although they had gotten confusing stories from Mr. Soucy that said that might have been happening after all).  They had learned about the technologies that explained how there was so many electronic devices everywhere.  They knew the names of several nations of the world and how they each spoke a different language.  They were no longer stunned at each and every new encounter throughout the day.  As they approached the city of Montreal, however, they began to feel that same feeling of awe and wonder rising up again.

 

It was not the size of the city, Republic City was similar in scope and Ba Sing Se had covered much more territory, but it was everything else about it.  In one location seemed to be everything that set this world apart from their own, every strange and fantastic and terrifying and impressive development coalescing into a single whole.  The first thing they noticed was the skyline, shining in the distance.  Republic City glowed at night as one of the most brilliant wonders of the world (And Asami still felt herself warm with reflected glory as she listened to Korra explain how the city had looked when she first saw it lit up), but Montreal glowed during the _day_.  Its skyscrapers seemed to be composed of nothing but metal and glass, reflecting the sunlight and looking for all the world like beacons beckoning you onward.  There were satomobiles on the road streaming into and out of the city of so many different designs and styles that it boggled the mind, and Asami reflected that she had just spent a month _working_ at a satomobile repair garage.  As they closed in they also began to hear more languages; French was still dominant, but they could also hear English and several of the unknown languages that they had heard people trying to communicate with them with at the North Pole.  Signs and advertisements were plastered on every surface, announcing wares for sales and services available. There were people everywhere, and it was a _city_ , with a hustle and energy unlike anything to be found in _Ville de Moores_ or on the road.

Asami had grown up in Republic City, and Korra had done more living there over the past four years than anywhere else; surrounded by the sounds of a city, even if they were the sounds of this world, it was almost like they had found their way home.

 

* * *

Around a mouthful of food (The cart proprietor had called it a 'gyro'), Asami asked "Does this place look familiar to you?"

"Nhhrog...." Korra stopped to swallow and tried again. "Not really, no."

"Something about it, it's like...ah! It looks like Avatar Korra park!"

Korra spluttered and looked around; they sat near a gazebo in the middle of the park which they had stumbled upon after an hour of aimless wandering, and where they had decided to take their rest. It was similar to the park in Republic City in the sense that it had grass and trees, but to her that was the only similarity.

"Are you crazy? They look nothing alike!"

"What are you talking about, they're almost identical! Look over there towards the water, it's just like that little bridge over the river," and Asami gestured to the area behind them.

Korra looked, but she still shook her head. "You're seeing things, it's just another park," and she took another bite.

Asami considered, then asked "You never liked that they renamed the park, did you?"

The pause was noticable, saying something by its very silence, before Korra responded. "No, I didn't. Not like that. Raiko kept trying to thank me for taking down the Red Lotus, and I just didn't want any kind of reminder of what had happened. Even once I got better I didn't think I deserved it, you all helped me so much. If anybody deserves a statue for defeating Zaheer it's Jinora and the airbenders, not me, they're the ones who stopped him."

"I don't think I ever told you, but...uh....I'm the one who renamed the park."

"What?!?"

"It was while you were gone, and I didn't want anybody to forget about you. Even if you're right about Jinora deserving her own statue, you've done so much for Republic City with the Equlists and Unalaq and all any of them ever did was criticize you. Always complaining. So, I wanted a great big reminder right in the middle of the city, where nobody could ignore it, to show how much you meant to everybody. That way, when you came back you'd see that we appreciated everything you had done."

"But how? Last time I checked you weren't on the Council."

"Sometimes money is enough. Future Industries was doing almost all of the repair work and expansion to the city, and whether you think you deserve the credit or not Raiko was very relieved by the end of the Red Lotus. With my contacts and support it was easy to get it approved. I just....I wanted you to know that we hadn't abandoned you, that I was still waiting for you to come back. And...when I missed you I could go to the park and feel a little bit closer to you."

Asami looked down, almost embarrassed at the confession, and she felt Korra's gentle touch on her chin tilting her head back up.

"Staying away for so long was the stupidest decision of my life, and I'm still sorry it took me so long to come back," Asami tried to wave it off, they had already had this conversation, but Korra kept talking, "but I'm never going to go away again. Not like that. And I don't care how everybody else feels, as long as....as long as _you_ love me, that's all the appreciation I need". Her voice had lowered as she spoke, almost a whisper at the end, and Asami had leaned in closer to be able to hear her. With their faces inches apart they began to lean in just a little bit further--a bouncing ball came crashing into them accompanied by a shout of "Look out!" and before they knew it there were three kids running around them kicking and grabbing at that same ball while an older man (Their father?) came puffing up behind them.

"I'm so sorry, they're out of control sometimes. Hey! Leave the nice women alone! Get back here!" and with a scream of giggles the kids were gone again, chasing the ball down the footpath.

Laughing, Korra and Asami watched them run off, then turned back to finish their lunch.

Once they were done, they had a city to explore!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you care to follow along with Korra and Asami's road trip, they are having lunch at Jarry Park, here:
> 
>  


	54. Chapter 54

As they walked through the park, Asami reflected that if going to the festival a few days ago had been their first date, this would probably qualify as their second. They were arm-in-arm, following one of the stone paths that wound around the lake, and it was nice to be able to enjoy a moment that was so completely at peace together. Her shoulder still ached, probably would continue to ache for many days more, but when she thought how it might have turned out....she dragged her mind away from that thought, away from the roaring pain that had threatened to overwhelm her completely, and focused just on the warm body pressing against her side, letting it anchor her to the moment.

"Before we forget, we should call Kunik and let her and Pete know we got here safely, so they can stop worrying," Korra's voice was soft and drowzy, like she was ready to fall asleep as they walked, and Asami knew that she was under the spell of this place as well.

"That's a good idea, they've probably been scared, we expected to be here tomorrow," regretfully pulling away from Korra, Asami fished out the small phone they had been given and turned it on. After a minute of flashing lights and sounds, and flashing note that said 'Three missed calls', Asami dialed in the nuber they had memorized and waited for Kunik to answer.

"Hello?" The voiced sounded in Asami's ear as clear as if she had been standing nearby, and she again marvelled at the technology. A phone call without connecting wires, or the distortion of long-distance radio transmissions, was as amazing as everything else they had seen. Pete had explained that there were relay towers scattered all across the land, that this one phone was not transmittting all the way by itself, but that infrastructure was impressive all on its own. Back home telephones were still a new technology, still being developed; to learn that they had been in use here for long enough for all of these towers and connections to be built was as amazing as the technology itself.

"Hello, Kunik? It's Asami and Korra, we wanted to call and let you know that we made it to Montreal safely," her shoulder twinged again as she said that.

"Asami? Oh, dear, I've been so worried. Did you get my messages?"

"Messages? No I didn't....wait, when I turned the phone on it said we had missed calls, was that you calling?"

"Yes, that was me. There was a mention on the news this morning that a group of bikers had been attacked on the way to Montreal, with their motorcycles all wrecked and them beaten very badly. The report said they were all men, but I was scared that you'd been hurt somehow since I knew you were going to be passing through that road, and if somebody is harassing bikers they might have come after you, too."

Asami generally regarded herself as an intelligent person, and everybody who knew her would have wholeheartedly agreed, but never in ten thousand years would she have predicted this was how her call to Kunik would start. She did not know whether to laugh or to cry, and her voice came out slightly strangled as she said, "No, we're fine, we must have missed that."

"I'm happy to hear that. I know you two can take care of yourselves--you gave that racist prick what-for the first day I met you--but there's a lot of dangerous people out there. You need to be careful."

"I know, and we are." Korra seemed to have sensed that the conversation was not going as Asami had expected, and was eyeing her askance, but Asami just waved her off and continued speaking. "We're in the city now and are walking in this beautiful park we found, afterwards we're going to see what they have to offer". Now Korra was looking out over the park, taking in all the people relaxing and playing, when Asami noticed her stiffen and peer off into the distance.

"Oh, good, I'm glad your trip is going well then. Listen, I have to go, Henri is getting home in a few minutes and I'm working on a surprise for him, but thank you for calling me and laying my fears to rest". Asami now realized that she could here noises in the background, probably the 'surprise', and Kunik sounded a little bit rushed.

"It's okay, go work on your surprise. Goodbye," after she hung up the phone, Asami turned to Korra, who was still looking at something across the park. "What is it?"

"Those people over there, on the other side of the lake....are they waterbending?"

 

* * *

They did not _run_ around the lake, not quite, but at Korra's realization they both rushed over to get a closer look at the small group that they could hazily make out. If these were waterbenders, how had they gotten here? Were there others? Did they know a way back? Their presence indicated _so much_. As they approached the group and began to make out more details, Korra's expression began to glow--they **were** performing waterbending forms, moving in harmony like masters. Except....her glow dimmed a little; where was the _water_?

Their form was unmistakable, but it was only the physical motions, with no bending at all, much like the friends Korra had taught up until a few days ago. But none of those students had progressed to this level of skill, certainly not far enough to teach somebody else, and the people here were all strangers. When Korra and Asam finally reached them they slowed to a halt and observed, taking in the sight of the practiced forms and looking for any sign of bending. They were not the only observers, a few of the other park attendees had stopped as well, but the group took no notice of them and just continued their measured, even practices.

After what must have been half an hour and a dozen different forms the group broke apart, with scattered applause from the handful of passersby that had stopped to watch, and separated into a half a dozen smallers groups that spoke amongst themselves. They considered how to approach them (Was this a performance? Training? Was one of these people a master and the others students?) when they saw one woman who did not seem to be taking part in any of the resulting conversations, walking by herself over to a pack that had been layed aside. Seeing her unoccupied, they tentatively approached.

"Excuse me?" Korra called out as they walked over.

The woman spun around and she looked...not angry, but like she _expected_ to be angry from whatever was about to happen. She looked them over and seemed to relax a little bit, "Yes?"

"What are you doing?" Korra asked.

The woman's expression clouded over again, as if the question itself was offensive, before she seemed to realize that Korra was referring to the forms and not whatever she seemed to think it was. "Oh, the practice? Our school is closed for the month, so a bunch of us have been meeting up out here to keep in form. I love it, gets us outside, and there's always somebody in the park who enjoys the show."

"No," Korra said, " _what_ are you doing? Where are thse forms from?"

"Hmmm? Oh, it's called tai ci. _Taijiquan_ , if you want to be accurate. Uh....do you study?". Now her expression was perfectly friendly and open, even energetic, at the prospect of discovering a new practitioner.

"I know these forms, but not the name. What is its history?" Korra was practically bursting with excitement; even if these people were not waterbenders, maybe they had learned from somebody who was.

"There's a _wuguan_ that I go to and...wait, do you mean the **whole** history? That's not a five minute lesson, y'know." Now she was eyeing them with frank curiosity. "I'll be happy to give you an overview, but let's not just stand around in the park, okay? I know a really nice little coffe shop not far away....I mean, don't worry if you can't aff--... it would be my treat."

Korra and Asami's expressions had both blanched at the mention of coffee (They had been introduced to it one morning at the garage, and they still wondered how such a vile concoction could be so widely loved), but apparently this woman had mistaken it for concern about going to a restaurant and...now that they thought about it, they were both showing the effects of their travels on the road. They were dirty and worn, and Asami's wrap had a large hole and stain on one shoulder. They were certainly in better shape than they had been coming out of the woods a month ago, but they did not give a very refined impression.

"That is not necessary, but thank you. We would be very happy to go with you and hear the history of 'tai chi'". If she had asked, right now Korra would have followed her all the way back to the North Pole

"Okay, it's just a few blocks away. My name's Jac---I'm Janice."

 

* * *

 

 

The 'coffee shop' turned out to be a small restaurant not too far away, and thankfully they saw that it offered tea as well. The man behind the counter greeted Janice as they entered, apparently she was a regular, and they sat at a small table off to one side.

"So, where are you two from, anyway? I've got to admit I can't quite place your accent."

"We are from China," Asami replied, sticking with the story that had worked so far, "we are visiting for the summer and traveling across Canada."

"You're from China, and you've never heard of tai chi?" Suddenly the suspicion from before was back as Janice glared at them, and Korra and Asami looked at each other in confusion. Why was she so on edge?

"I know the forms, but not the name," Korra repeated from earlier. "I want to learn what history I do not know."

"Well, for one, tai chi is a Chinese martial art (They both had to fight a wince at that. No wonder she was suspicious if they did not even know something that came from their 'home'), I've been trained in the chen-style and--"

"Hey! _Ce que le baiser que tu fais ici_? I thought we told you to stay out of here!" The interruption came from the entrance behind them, and they turned to see five teenagers crowding through the door giving Janice disgusted looks. She darted a quick glance towards the counter, but when she saw it empty her expression fell and she turned back to the newcomers after looking at Korra and Asami accusingly.

"Back off Lisa, I'm not in the mood. What, did you and your thugs get bored just waiting, you had to lure me in with these two?"

"Bored? Best week of our lives not needing to deal with you, freak. These two part of your crowd?" Lisa (presumably) turned to look at Korra and Asami with contempt. "Not even bothering to put much effort in, are they?"

"I dunno," one of the boys with Lisa chimed in, "that ones looks halfway passable. I might be willing to give him a try just to check him out, let him see what he's in for. Can't say much for the other one, though, pretty sure I can still see the stubble.". The group laughed together, a surprisingly light sound given the obvious hostility. Janice looked at Korra and Asami with yet another different expression before retorting.

Korra and Asami, for their part, were heartily confused. A lot of the words made sense as individual words, but as to what was being _said_ it was almost gibberish, none of it connected or even obeyed the rules of the language they thought they understood. Clearly Janice and Lisa were enemies of some sort, and Janice had thought that they were friends of Lisa trying to trick her into doing something, and Lisa likewise thought they were friends of Janice, but...now the two were screaming at each other in heat almost too fast to understand, and it was even more nonsensical. Something about a transmission? Was this about _car repair_? That could not be it.....could it?

"HEY!" The interruption came from behind them again, and they turned around to see the owner in front of the counter, holding a package (Which likely explained where he had gone) and glaring at Lisa and her friends as hard as they had glared before. "I've warned you about coming in here and hasseling customers! No more! Get out!"

"What? You're letting these _things_ stay?"

"They mind their own business and don't bother anybody, but this is the last time I deal with you punks. Now, _get out_ , or I'm calling the cops!" He was not a very imposing man, but he stepped forward as he spoke and simultaneously reached for the phone to emphasize his threat. "Out."

With continued muttered imprecations Lisa and her followers left, and the man turned to Janice. "I'm sorry about them, they're just....another cup?" He walked off to get Janice another coffee, leaving her with Korra and Asami, who continued to have _absolutely no idea_ what had just happened. Now that the confrontation was over Janice's shoulders had slumped and her head lowered a bit, and her breathing began to come raggedly. Asami reached out take hold of her hand, but Janice snatched her own hand away before they could touch. The new coffee arrived, and they sat there in silence for a long while.

"I'm sorry," Janice eventually said, "but I'm going to go home, maybe we could....maybe we could do this another time?"

Korra and Asami nodded silently, it was easy to see that this had affected her greatly even if they did not understand what or why, and rose with her as she left. Outside they turned to separate, when there was the sudden scraping noise of running feet and Korra sensed metal coming directly at them.


	55. Chapter 55

Not again, Korra thought. It would not happen again, cameras and suspicion be damned. As soon as she sensed the metal coming towards Asami she was pivoting, bringing up her arm to---it was not a gun. It looked like a club of some sort, thinner towards the bottom and widening to a rounded head, and it was being swung at Janice, not Asami. Korra had only a split second to react, the club was already in motion, and she decided that she did not care if this was less dangerous than a gun or that it was not being directed at Asami, she was not going to let somebody else be hurt. She twisted her wrist in a pulling motion and the club spun out of its wielders' hands. She heard the man shout in surprise, a very _young_ shout, and Korra realized that he was barely more than a child....these were the teenagers that had come into the coffee shop with Lisa. Had they decided to escalate from shouts to violence in the half-hour since they had been thrown out? What had Korra and Asami stumbled into here?

With a single swept leg he was on the ground, and she could hear Asami disabling the others as well, and in seconds the entire ordeal was over. These clearly were not experienced combatants, unused to pain, and they huddled on the ground clutching their legs and wrists, two even crying. Janice was straddling Lisa, with her arm twisted behind her back (Korra briefly noted that it was almost identical to the hold that Asami loved to use to), and despite the fact that she looked unharmed there were tears streaming down her face.

"Why? For god's sake, _why_? All I've ever asked was for you to leave me alone, I never wanted anything to do with you, and you just....you just....WHY?" She was almost screaming now, sobbing as she she held the prostrate attacker, and Korra stepped over slowly. She moved with caution, trying to exude calmness, because Janice looked on the verge of collapse. She still had no idea what was going on, no idea why these people had attacked them nor why it seemed to effect Janice so much since she clearly had training, but it was obvious that there was more happening than appeared. She reached out to lay a hand on Janice's shoulder, just to offer the tactile comfort, and Janice jerked away, as she had when Asami had tried to hold her hand before.

"No, no don't, I can't....." Janice's sobs were quieting, but she still looked tormented, and drew off of Lisa's back, taking a few steps away.

Once the pressure was gone Lisa turned over and sat up, craddling her arm, and her gaze darted between her friends on the ground and the people still standing. She opened her mouth to say something, likely something horrible, but Asami stepped forward and leaned in close, and her words died in her throat.

"I do not know who you are or what Janice did to your car (Janice laughed when she heard that, a short, sharp bark filled with a lot of anger), but be still and stay quiet. Do we call the police?"

Korra and Asami still had no wish to become embroiled with the police and the complications that would bring, but this situation was no longer just about them. Would these people come after Janice again? What other connections did they have in this city?

"No, no police," Janice said, seeming to come back under control, "I can't.....not now. I...I'll speak to their parents and Jeff...her brother....when they see what's happened they'll do something". She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Korra and Asami, but they nodded and stepped away from the group of teens, who shuffled to their feet and quickly fled into the city. "I...I could use another cup of coffee," and Janice rushed back around the corner from the alley they were in, and Korra noticed her pulling out one of the tiny phones from her pocket as she did.

Exchanging a look, Korra and Asami followed her.

 

* * *

 

 

It was on Janice's second cup, which had come only very slowly after she nursed her first for nearly half an hour, that the door to the coffe shop opened and a woman ran in, looking around and dashing over once she saw where the were sitting. Janice practically fell into her arms, holding back the sobs that she had let out before.

"Oh, Janice, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I just got your message, what happened?"

Korra and Asami eyed this new women with frank curiosity, was she her mother? No, too young to be her mother. Sister?

"I'm okay, really, I'm..." she let out a harsh laugh, "We actually gave them the beating they tried to give us. Korra, Asami, this is Cat, she...she's been mentoring me through my changes."

Cat looked them over, much like they had done to her, before she held out her hand in greeting. "Very nice to meet you, thank you so much for helping out. Are you friends or...?"

"I just ran into them in the park like two hours ago, me and the gang were practicing --Remember we try and meet in the park every week to keep in practice?-- and they wanted to learn about tai chi. I just brought 'em back here for a sitdown and..." Janice let it hang there and Cat nodded her head, understanding what she had left unsaid.

"We are passing through the area, we arrived in Montreal earlier today. I have not seen 'tai chi' performed in this land before, but I know these forms and wanted to learn the history. Do you know tai chi?" Korra had almost forgotten why they had first approached Janice with the absurdity that had happened, but now that she remembered she was again eager to learn if there were other waterbenders somewhere.

"Tai chi? No, I studied a different kung fu, and that was years ago. I've had other things on my plate recently," and she had a slightly sad smile on her face, but a smile it nonetheless was. "So, Janice, what had you all talked about before you were interrupted?" She was transparently trying to get Janice's mind off of what had happened.

"Nothing at all really, we'd just sat down. Uh, if you still want to know (Korra and Asami both nodded vigorously), well, like I said, I study chen-style, that's what you saw in the park earlier, there's a school only a few blocks from here, but it's closed now for remodeling so that's why we're working in the park." She was growing excited again, just like they had noticed when she had begun talking about the style before, clearly this was a passion and it began to draw her out of her sadness. "I can't rattle off the entire history from memory, but I can give you the highlights. It goes back about five hundred years, although back then the truth starts to blur pretty heavily with legend." She was animated now and leanining forward, eagre to expound upon the style, and Cat leaned back with a satisfied air to let her ramble.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Janice wound down most of two hours had passed, and it was edging towards evening as the sun lowered. She had made no mention of waterbending, nothing to connect back to their own world, and their hopes had dipped a little at the lack of contact. However, even without that bonus, they had both still been interested in the art itself. The philosophies were very similar to waterbending, almost identical in some cases, but very different in others.

"So, are you doing okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you so much for coming out, it means so much to have you here, but the shock's worn off. Go home, see Michel." Janice was well collected now, and she had stopped looking at Korra and Asami every three seconds like she feared they might turn on her, so with a final quick hug Cat exited the shop. Afterwards, Janice turned back to the table.

"I think I should be heading home as well, it's getting late and I need to decompress after....after everything. It was very nice to meet you both, and thank you so much for what you did today."

As they left the coffee shop, Korra and Asami turned to walk back to the park, which was near where they had left the motorcycle and their supplies. Before they had walked far, though, they heard a call from behind them and turned to see Janice awkwardly walking over, again looking over their disshevelled appearance.

"Hey, you guys said you only got into town this morning. Do you....do you have a place to stay?"


	56. Chapter 56

"So.....you're biker chicks, huh?  Whoa."

 

Janice had given them directions on how to find her apartment building, and after Korra and Asami had retrieved their motorcycle (Eying the piece of paper stuck to the handlebar with distaste.  Apparently parking tickets were universal) they rode over and found her watching the street from the doorway.  Her eyes had widened as they rode up and she looked at the bike with a sense almost like wonder.

 

"When I was a kid I used to watch a lot of biker movies; getting out on the open road, leaving behind your troubles....never got into the real things, though.  My parents always said I'd crack my head open, wouldn't even let me sign up for the classes."  Her smile was not sad, but bittersweet, and she waved them to the parking area beside the building.  "Just take one of the visitor spaces in the lot.  You're only supposed to stay there for an hour, but nobody ever comes by to check."  Setting down the kickstand in the indicated section, they grabbed what they could and followed Janice to an elevator.  Janice eyed Korra's glider staff askance, but she said nothing, and they rode up in silence.  The elevator itself was actually not very impressive to Korra and Asami, stained and marked and creaking, but _that_ fact was impressive; that elevators could have been around long enough to fall into disrepair said a lot about the history of technology.  Much like the communications infrastructure, it all indicated that this world had had industry and electricity for much longer than their own world, although they had also seen no indication of advanced mechanics like MechaTanks.  Why the strange dichotomy, ahead in some areas, behind in others?

 

Janice's apartment was small and cramped, only two rooms and a small kitchen, but compared to the prospect of sleeping on the streets it seemed palatial. To camp out in the wilds was one thing, sleeping in the grass beneath the stars, but to sleep beneath the towering skyscrapers and the endless lights of a city seemed a different proposition altogether, even if they had unrolled their sleeping mats on the grass in the park.  The ability to shower and clean had its own tantalizing draw as well, and they looked at the bathroom with something approaching desire, especially once Asami noticed the rather well stocked makeup and grooming supplies.  When she saw that, Korra grinned and remembered back to when she had finally asked Asami about her always impeccable appearance.  It had been back when they were stuck on the ice, buried beneath the storm, and even now Korra could still feel the bright light of that very first kiss, when their lips had touched together so softly.

 

They had lain side by side in the snow cavern, invisible to one another in the darkness, but she could feel Asami's hand slowly tracing over the back of her own hand, while she ran the fingers of her other hand through Asami's hair and marveled at its softness.  Even then, when they had already been on the ice for days, after a week in the Spirit World, it felt as if it had been freshened just a little bit earlier.  Asami always looked poised, always in control of her appearance.  When they had been living in the sewers of Republic City with Gommu during the Equalist uprising she had maintained her style, and she had even taken the time to apply her eye liner before they went into battle.  Never a hair out of place.  Not out of vanity, Korra was sure, but out of...what?

 

"Asami?"

 

"Hmmm?"  The voice was heavy and deep, not sleepy, but...content.  Content in a way that made no sense considering they were buried alive in a snowstorm, but which Korra understood perfectly.

 

"You always....you always look so perfect.  So....snazzy.  Even when you don't need to.  Even when I know a lot of people try and use it to knock you down, like those articles about how you were just the pretty face the staff kept on and weren't involved in running the company.  Why do you make that kind of effort?"  She hoped that her question did not sound judgmental, or like she for some reason wanted Asami to _stop_ , but she had never really understood fashion or the thinking behind it, and Asami....she wanted to understand Asami.

 

"I know there are people who think that I can't handle my company, but they don't matter; if I changed how I looked to please them they'd just find something else to complain about.  I don't take care of myself for anybody _but_ myself.  A lot of people think it's because I'm in love with the way I look, or because that's all I have to offer, but that's not it.  I just....my body is something that I have control over.  When I was a kid, after my mom died....there was so much happening that I couldn't do anything about.  Not even just losing her, but _everything_.  My father changed, even if I had no idea then how much.  My friends all started treating me different, and so did people my father knew and people at the company.  I couldn't control how they acted around me, or how they felt, but I could control _me_ , and I wanted to be in control what I showed to the world.  So, I made sure the world always saw exactly what I wanted it to see, so that I could get a handle on everything that was out of my control.  Then...I grew to love the image I presented, the way it made me feel to put myself together, even just the sensation and ritual of taking care of myself.  It's relaxing and it's fun.  I don't care if they think I'm 'just a pretty face', it's who I am, and no matter what happens I won't let anybody take away a part of me."

 

Korra had never stopped gently brushing Asami's hair as she spoke, feeling the softness flow through her fingers like it was water she was bending, and the sensation of Asami's tracing the back of her other hand continued steadily.  Almost regretfully, Korra stopped stroking, then leaned over to rest her cheek on the top of Asami's head, feeling the softness directly and inhaling just the _smell_ of Asami.  "I wouldn't worry about anybody taking anything away from you, you'd have them wrapped up in a bun before the could even touch your lipstick."

 

Asami let out a surprised guffaw at that, then smothered her laughter as best she could.  "True," she said, and let herself sink a little deeper into Korra's embrace.

 

Now, Asami eyed the cosmetics in Janice's apartment with undisguised envy.  She had agreed that luxuries like makeup were not strictly necessary considering they had such limited funds when they were buying their equipment while preparing to leave _Ville de Moores_ , and anyway Korra always looked at her as if she were impeccably groomed regardless of how unkempt she had grown, but she still itched to be able to set herself to straights.

 

"Oh, most of that's Cat's, she's a cosmetician and she...uh...she's been giving me pointers.  I'm still getting the hang of using it all."  Janice darkened and looked away, then gestured to the couch set against one wall.  "This is all I have, really, but we can move the table and make some more room if you need to spread out, or...do you have sleeping bags or what?"

 

"We have sleeping mats, but the couch will be fine, we do not need more room."  Neither Korra nor Asami noticed the way Janice's eye seemed to twitch at that, but then she nodded and silently mouthed ' _Oooooohhhhh_ '.

 

"Okay, cool.  I don't have much in the fridge, but you can grab something if you're hungry and...I think I'm going to turn in.  I have to get up early for work tomorrow and today...it was amazing what you two did, but I'd like very much to just nod off and let today fade away." And with a wave she disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Korra and Asami to get ready for bed themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oy, I'm slowing down, only a single update yesterday. I'll try and make up for it tomorrow.
> 
> Also, you can check (I did), but Asami totally is still wearing full makeup (Including eye liner) while they're hiding in the sewers. On anybody else I'd probably say either "skewed priorities" for the character or "Poor animation control" for the creators, but on her it makes perfect sense.
> 
> * * *
> 
> I'm looking to get a piece of fanart done of Korra and Asami once they've gotten their final 'look' after they have well and truly sunk into our world. Does anybody know somebody who takes requests?


	57. Chapter 57

As morning came Korra and Asami were woken by the sounds of hurried motion and the smell of...ugh, coffee.  As their eyes opened they saw Janice busying herself in the small kitchen and pouring out a pot of the black sludge they had come to loathe.  What was this world's obsession when they already had tea?  Grumbling the sort of early-morning nonsense that was the prerogative of everybody awoken earlier than they would like, they both climbed off of the couch and noticed with surprise that the sun had barely risen.

 

"Sorry to knock you up so early, but my shift starts at 8:00 and I need to get going.  You two want some coffee?"  Janice was wearing what they had come to recognize was a serving uniform, and she waved her hand at the still-filled pot.

 

"No, thank you," Asami said, "thank you for letting us stay the night."

 

"Of course, of course.  After yesterday...." Her face darkened again and she looked down; Asami and Korra both recognized the look, she would be carrying the attack from yesterday with her for a very long time.  "...it's not many people who would help out a stranger like that, especially not....just thank you."  Janice finished off the cup in her hand and tossed it into the sink, then turned towards her bedroom, and Asami noticed that there was nothing else in evidence for her breakfast.  Halfway to the door, though, she hesitated and half-turned towards Korra and Asami, coloring a bit, but not saying anything.

 

After a moment, Asami realized and said "Me and Korra actually didn't get a chance to see much of the city yesterday, once we freshen up we will head out for the day," and she knew she had guessed correctly when Janice relaxed almost instantly and cleared the way to the bathroom.  Soon, when they had both availed themselves of the facilities and with Janice's permission Asami had explored the available cosmetics (It was amazing how much the application of a foundation and accentuation could change how you felt), and then they followed her out of the apartment and down to the entrance....where there was a man leaning against the door waiting for them.

 

He smiled, or rather tried to smile and gave a twisted grimace, and said "Hey Jack.  Got a minute?"

 

Janice froze in the entryway and stared at him for a minute before she responded, "There's no Jack here, Jeff" and she moved to walk past him.

 

He sidestepped and held up his hands.  "Just five minutes, please...uh...alone? For old times' sake?" and he looked at Korra and Asami.

 

Now she eyeballed him directly; "These are the people who kept Billy Jean from clocking me with a baseball bat and the rest of their little gang from sending me to the hospital.  Right now I'd say their 'sake' counts for a lot more than our old times."

 

Jeff's grimace twisted even further and he stepped back out of the way, but he again said "Please?", and Janice stopped mid-step and turned to face him

 

"What?"  There was a a lot of emotion in that single syllable; anger and hurt and resentment and sadness and maybe a little bit of hope as well.

 

"About yesterday....they didn't mean to...Lisa and her friends were just...."

 

"Just what, Jeff?  Just fooling around?  Just joking?  Just having fun?  They might have.....they weren't carrying a water balloon, this isn't a goddamn joke, they jumped me in an alley to...to...they might have  _killed me_.  Do you know how many women have been murdered like that?  I do.  I think about that every goddamn day and yesterday...I helped you  _babysit her and every other one of those little_....and they still..."  She was crying now, and Jeff stepped forward.

 

"Jack, I just--"

 

" **No**.  I told you before, there's no Jack here.  I didn't call the cops yesterday, but if they...if Lisa sets foot near me again I'll...." She shook her head and walked past him, not stopping this time when he called out again.  Korra and Asami looked back and forth between them, again wondering just what the story was, and then ran forward to catch up to her.

 

"I'm sorry about that.  Jeff and I...oh, god, when we were kids I thought....he probably just came by to make sure I wasn't pressing charges, wanted to protect his little sister..."  She was wiping away her tears and straightening her uniform, almost running down the sidewalk (Presumably to work), and Korra reached out to grab her shoulder.

 

"Hold on, just....slow down.  What is this all about?  What did you do to Lisa's car to cause this?"

 

"Do to...do to her  _car_?"

 

"Yesterday we heard you two arguing about a transmission..."

 

"About a...a trans _mission_?"  For a moment Janice stared at them in shock, then she began to laugh.  It was a sad, pained laugh, but it was also deep, and she gasped for breath in between the wracking spasms.  "Oh, oh my sweet lord, did you two think...no, it's got nothing to do with a transmission.  I'm transgender."  They stared at her in incomprehension and her laugh started to come back up.  "It means I...I was born with the body of a boy, but that was never right, so I'm changing, and there's a lot of medicine and surgery, but I'm becoming who I always was."  The laughter had died down, and now the wariness from the day before was actually creeping back to her face.  If Korra and Asami had not realized when they came to her aide yesterday, if they had thought she was 'normal' when they helped fight off her attackers...how might they react now?

 

Korra and Asami looked at each other in confusion, as they had done quite often recently, and then Korra turned back to Janice.  "You are a woman."

 

"Yes."  That was as clear a statement as could be made.

 

"Okay," and Korra shrugged her shoulders, as did Asami.

 

* * *

 

 

After Janice had finally made it to work (Late, but not  _too_ late), Korra and Asami were left to explore the city, and this time they were determined to  _actually_ see the city.  Korra still carried her glider staff in hand, but with her other arm she clasped Asami and they decided to spend the day playing tourist.  Much of what they saw was  _still_ alien to them, but a lot of it was familiar, and just like they had the day before they reflected that the energy of the city was almost like they had made it home, so similar to the feel of Republic City.  As they walked aimlessly down the streets, they began to notice that things began to seem a little bit  _more_ familiar, and they both stopped and stared as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by what looked like people and architecture pulled right out of the Earth Kingdom and blended with this world.

 

"Is this...what is this place?"  Korra stared around in wonder, since for the first time they could trace what looked like normal buildings, and writing they could understand.  It still spoke of this world, but they could  _read_ it.

 

"I don't know, but  _smell that._ It's like roast duck from Kwong's, I almost thought I'd never get that smell again."  Asami was almost leaning forward towards the restaurant as if drawn by the aroma.

 

"Is this the China everybody spoke about?  The same writing?"

 

"It can't be, that's on the other side of the world, not in Canada and...whatever this place is, it can wait until after lunch.  Come on, I'm buying," and Asami practically dragged Korra towards the restaurant that they had passed, which served not just roast duck, but also noodles and spices and dishes that were  _oh so similar_ to what they had known back home.  So far they had avoided any serious spending on their part given their lack of any regular income, but for their first familiar meal in months they reveled unapologetically.  Ordering was initially difficult, despite the writing it was true that these people did not speak the language Korra and Asami were familiar with, but with pointing and gesturing they made their wishes known, and soon they were nearly buried beneath a mountain of dumplings and noodles and rice.

 

"Oh, I didn't realize how badly I missed this," Korra moaned as she practically shoveled a bowl into her mouth, "I feel like I'm back at Narook's."

 

"Try this beef, I'd swear it was moo-sow tenderloin," and Asami shoved over a bowl that was still steaming.  Korra did not even respond, just simply scooped out a serving and added it to her plate, and Asami grinned as she dug in.  They were not actually home, and there were still differences, but like the energy of the city itself, the familiarity was enough for now.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oooh, I think maybe I shouldn't have gone for that last dumpling," and for a brief instant Asami widened her gait and clutched her stomach, as if filled to bursting, before resuming her normal casual stroll.  Beside her, Korra followed suit as they walked down the road of this little enclave of their home, taking in all the sights that were almost normal.  For a few minutes they were not trapped in a strange land, not cut off away from everybody they knew, they were just walking down a city street, maybe planning to do a little shopping later or going to meet some friends or any other mundane activity, and for now just taking in the sights and enjoying each other's company.

 

"Do you think we'd be doing this if we were back home?" Korra asked.

 

"Hmmm?"

 

"If we had never been brought here, if we'd gotten to the North Pole like we were trying to do.  Do you think we'd just be living in Republic City right now, walking down the street?"

 

"Probably not," Asami said, "Right in the middle of the day I'd be refining some new design that the company was going to produce, or coordinating the rebuilding of the city, and you'd be pulled in a dozen different directions to do something Officially Avatar."

 

She felt Korra slump down the tiniest bit against her side as she said "You're supposed to say 'Of course, Korra, no matter what'."

 

"Oh, so you wanted the _Ikki_ version of the story then?  Well, in that case, of course Korra, no matter what, we'd spend every day walking over the city going shopping, and at night we'd go to every show the city has and then we'd drink a love potion made of rainbows and sunsets that makes us sprout wings and fly to a magical castle in the sky."  When Korra stopped shaking from the laughter Asami continued, "We both know there would be too much going on back home for us to be able to spend so much time away like this, there'd always be another fire to put out, another distraction."  She felt Korra begin to slump again and grabbed her shoulders, "But what I also know is that we _would_ have made it work. No matter what, Korra.  We'd have stolen five minutes together at lunch, and we'd meet up at night when everybody else is asleep, and you'd fly over to my office when I was stuck working late, and I'd reschedule my meetings to work around when you had finished dealing with the next Spirit Monster to decide it was time to eat all of the noodles on Air Temple Island or whatever insanity came next.  Always.  No mater what."

 

Korra's eyes were shining now, filled as if with tears that refused to be shed, and stepped up to place a tender kiss on Asami's cheek.  "....you know, I think I might like your version better than Ikki's.  But don't tell her I said that."

 

Asami's smile widened even a little bit further, "I wouldn't dream of it."

 

* * *

 

 

"I've got an idea!"  Korra practically shouted it, but even then Asami could barely hear her over the sounds of people clapping and cheering.

 

"What?  Korra!"  Asami reached and to grab her, but Korra had already darted away and leapt up on the small stone ledge that surrounded a fountain.

 

"Attention!  Attention!  Everybody, you will not want to miss this!" and Asami knew she had to have used a little trick of airbending to be heard like she was.

 

There were several dozen people clustered around, and the crowd had only just begun to dissipate.  On one edge two of the musicians that had just finished performing were holding out baskets for money, which was falling in from the crowd at an impressive rate, while the third was packing up their equipment.  At Korra's shout they all turned around to see her waving from atop the fountain, and a few began to shift over to see what this newest street performer had to offer.

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome!  I am a stranger to your land and cannot speak French very well, so there is no speech to give.  What I do have is the finest display you will ever see!"

 

The mutterings from the crowd were more disinterested than enraptured, and many had already begun to drift away, so clearly they were used to such boasts and not unduly impressed.  Korra, however, saw that as a challenge.

 

She turned and began to run along the fountain's ledge, circling around the center.  After he first revolution she took a double-step and switched to a flip, rolling through a tumble that continued to carry her around the ledge.  The ledge was not thin enough for simple running to be impressive, but the roll got a smattering of applause.  After her rolls had brought her completely around the rim again she stood up and, without breaking stride, rotated in place and began rolling over backwards, carrying herself along the fountain's edge again.  That got another, louder round of applause, but still not anything significant.  When Korra came back around to the front after her third revolution, knowing that she had their attention now, she came to a complete standstill, faced the crowd, and shouted "Watch this!"  Then she began running again, as she had during the first revolution, and there were confused wonderings from the crowd, until they realized that she was running _on th_ _e fountain_.  She had stepped in from the ledge and was running along the surface of the water.  After her first revolution she began to roll forward again, then flip backwards, just as she had along the stone ledge, but this time performing on the inner liquid.  Now the crowd was ecstatic, shouting and clapping and crowding close.

 

Asami, however, was mortified.  There were cameras _everywhere_ here; they had noticed many of them on buildings and lights to watch traffic and pedestrians, and dozens of people were holding them right now and pointing them at Korra.  There was no way this would not be recorded and put on the internet for everybody to see.  What was Korra _thinking_?  Was she thinking?  She had to know the risk she was putting them in, so _why_?  Actually....yes, Korra _did_ have to realize the dangers, so why was she acting like this?  She might have been brash and reckless, but she was not foolish, especially not in such a calm environment without danger to press her without thinking.  Asami looked up and down the road they were on, which was crowded with street performers and...crowded with street performers.  Many of them performing tricks that looked like magic, deceiving the eye, and one bare-chested man working with fire so deftly that for a second Asami had believed him to be a firebender.  All of them being observed and recorded, but without any suspicion or undue hostility.  Just like Korra was being observed now, with people looking for the trick, not believing her to be bending.

 

Now Korra was standing motionless in the middle of the fountain, with the water falling down around her, and she began to spin in place.  The water streams falling around her began to twist, then curve a little bit, then they braided themselves as they fell and swirled around her torso in a shimmering curtain.  Throwing her hands up a stream of water shot into the air and fell across the spectators, sprinkling them with drops, and they called louder and more enthusiastically than ever.  Her arms began to move in a blur, water gushing upward almost as thick as a waterfall, but instead of shooting out over the audience it went straight up and fell back down, splashing around Korra like a perfect shroud.  When the water stilled again there was just the motion of the fountain itself and Korra standing there, arms held open, smiling at the crowd.

 

The resulting applause was louder than almost any she had received for saving the world.

 

"Thank you!  Thank you!"  Korra climbed out of the fountain (And the applause redoubled when the front spectators noticed she was not even wet) and walked over to Asami, where she held out her hands.  "Thank you all!"

 

As coins and bills filled up their hands (They would need to bring a basket in the future) Asami said out of the corner of her mouth "That was brilliant, but next time warn me first!  I had no idea what you were thinking!"

 

"That was the idea!  What kind of surprise would it be if I warned you?"  And Asami could not help but laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually intended to write a much bigger reaction from Korra and Asami while talking to Janice, including a section where Korra used waterbending to feel Janice's chi and got a female energy, but...why? They've dealt with spirits, with people spontaneously gaining airbending after Harmonic convergence, and with so much history about a person's energy and spirit that this has to be absolutely normal to them by now, even if they don't actually have experience with trans issues. If she says she's a woman, she's a woman, to them it should be that simple.
> 
> And again, if you want to trace Korra and Asami's journey, they had lunch on De la Gauchetière Street, which runs through the Chinatown in Montreal.
> 
> I tried for a larger-than-average chapter today since I've been falling behind over the past few days, hopefully I'll get back into my groove soon.
> 
> Also, this and the next chapter (And maybe the one after that) are gonna be largely fluff-ish, plot won't kick in for a little bit yet. But when it does....PLOT!
> 
> Also also----100,000 WORDS! Ho _ly_ **Potatoes** , I didn't see this milestone coming. Yay! You've all been so amazing to stick with me so far, reading your comments and seeing your kudos-es (Kudosi? Plural?) has been wonderful, just seeing you all talk and think and react. You're wonderful!


	58. Chapter 58

Twilight was beginning to descend, and as their footfalls carried them ever further into the city Asami began to turn her eyes to the time. Like they had thought two days ago, it is quite a different thing to aimlessly wander around a city at night than it is to wander during the day, and without some specific destination in mind it might have been better to bunker down for the evening. They had found themselves down near the waterfront, and Asami slowly began to circle as she looked for a landmark that she could orient on to find her way around. Korra observed with her, but she clearly had a different objective in mind, as she stiffened and began pulling Asami forward while the later was still picking out a marker.

 

"Korra, what is it?"

 

"Come on!" Korra's voice was excited, but not tense, and she was almost dashing along the waterfront, with Asami trailing behind.

 

"I don't...where are we going?"

 

"It's a surprise!"

 

"Wha...we're both new here, you don't know any more than I do! How can it be a surprise?"

 

"Apparently I know  _something_ you don't!"  There was a teasing edge to Korra's voice now, and she pulled Asami right up to a small dock that extended out into the water with several boats tied up alongside in the shape of large birds.  Out on the water, Asami could see a few of them slowly floating by, each with a pair of people within.

 

"Korra, what is this?"

 

" _This_ is our official second date," and Korra flourished her arms as if presenting the entire waterfront to Asami, who could not quite stifle the laugh that tried to come out.  She had seen Korra make the same motion a dozen times now, going all the way back to when they had started hunting in the wilderness, and it always looked like Korra was trying to make a present of the entire world.

 

"We've spent the whole day together (We've spent almost  _every_ day together), we don't need to make something an 'official' date."

 

"I know we don't  _have_ to, but I  **want** to.  Like you said before, if we'd never been stuck here we wouldn't have had all this time together, just stolen moments around both of our schedules, and so since we  _do_ have all this time together...I want to make it special.  And since we eat every day, and we bend every day (Or at least I'd  _like_ to bend every day), for our second date we need to do something different.  And I don't know about you, but I haven't ridden in a bird-boat for quite a while."  On the dock, Korra pointed to where there was a manned booth where an old man was standing and guiding another couple into one of the giant birds.  "Besides, now that I'm making money I get to treat  _you_ for a change, and we need to follow up from our first date at that festival," and Korra pulled her over to the operator.

 

The boat itself was an extremely simple affair, just a pair of paddles connected to pedals, and Korra almost turned up her nose at it from Water Tribe pride, but as soon as Asami acquiesced they were out on the water and she was paddling with all she had.  Twilight had turned to dusk, and on the water the Montreal skyline began to glow in the evening from its own light.

 

"Oh my...Korra, it's beautiful."  There might have been a half-dozen other boats surrounding them, but they were still alone, and they watched the lights bloom overhead.

 

Looking at the glow of Asami's face, Korra said "It's how I feel every time I look at you."  She could see the color start to rise in Asami's flush, and she pushed ahead. "No, really, it is.  That feeling you get when you see the whole city light up, reflecting the sun and the stars and with its own sights and sounds, open for all the world to see...that's the way I feel looking at you.  Everything I see in your eyes, the limitless possibilities...I'm looking at a new city, the world of tomorrow, laying open before me, and all I want to do is get lost in it.  And when you look back at me, and I get the the feeling that you see something in me....that's grander than every city in the world."

 

The night had started to grow cold, and there was a chilly breeze as well, but that was not the reason that Asami leaned in and nestled against Korra.  She lowered her head, resting against Korra's chest, and listened to just the breathing and heartbeat.  Korra encircled her, cradling Asami in close, and took in just the feel and warmth and smell.  Slowly, Korra's feet stilled on the peddles and they drifted in almost complete silence, now oblivious to the lights of the city, as they lay in each other's arms and just  _were_.

 

"I love you, Korra."  It was a whisper, almost subvocal, but to Korra it felt as powerful as a shout from the rooftops.

 

"I love you, too."  Korra could not have been any louder than Asami had been, but with the way her body thrilled it was clear that Asami had heard her as well.

 

True night fell, and all the other boats returned to the dock, but it was a long time before either of them thought about moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter originally wasn't supposed to exist at all, but then I saw that art ( _You_ know the one I mean) and there went any chance of this not happening.
> 
> I'm actually pretty sure that swan boats aren't a thing in Montreal, but I don't care, because _this was happening_.
> 
> This is going to push back the resumption of PLOT by another chapter, because this really just popped up this morning, but I don't care because OMG YOU GUYS LOOK AT IT!


	59. Chapter 59

By the time they returned to Janice's apartment it had been dark for a while, but they made the journey without incident.  As they approached her door, however, Korra suddenly drew back.

 

"What's wrong?" Asami glanced between her and the door.

 

"I just realized we never actually asked her if we could stay the night again, what if she only meant to offer for last night while we were new in the city?  I'm sure she'd say 'yes' if we asked, but what if she has company over?"

 

Asami marveled how Korra, who could be so brash and headstrong in some instances, could still draw back at the thought of inconveniencing somebody.  "If she has company over we can just say we stopped by to say good-bye before moving on.  And that would be the truth, too, since even if we're not going to be living with her I wouldn't want to leave without a farewell.  So, don't worry," and Asami walked up to the door.  However, before knocking, she paused herself.  "Do you hear that?"

 

They both crowded close to the door, laying their ears against it in comical fashion, and heard music coming from within the apartment.  It did not sound like a radio or phonograph (Or a "CD player" or "MP3", which they had learned were essentially just electronic phonographs), but rather like a live performance.  It was soft and soothing, quiet, without any of the passion or screaming energy they had heard at the festival a few days ago.  Once it had gone through what sounded like a complete song, Asami reached up again and knocked, and Janice opened the door.

 

"Oh, am I relieved to see you two, I was starting to get worried that something had happened.  The city can be dangerous at night, and I know you're not a pair of pushovers but it's easy to get turned around and wind up in the wrong part of town."  Her welcoming tone put away Korra's fears quickly, and they both squeezed their way into the small apartment.

 

"Was that you making the music?" Asami asked, eying an instrument set down on the couch.  It was the same style as they had seen used by the bands at the festival, similar to several different types of stringed instruments back home, bot not quite identical to any of them.

 

"What?  Oh, yeah, that was me.  The walls here are too thin for me to really cut loose, so we need to practice over at Rebecca's place when we're rehearsing, but when I need to unwind or take my mind off things I can usually get by with something nice and slow and not get any complaints."

 

"Rehearse?  Are you in a band?"  Asami had picked up the instrument and was turning it over in her hands as she examined it; a wide base with a long neck, and several metallic strands stretched along its length.

 

"Yeah, of course, I...you know, I had honestly forgotten I only ran into you yesterday and literally the only thing we've talked about has been tai chi.  Me and some friends play together, we have for a few years now.'

 

"We heard you through the door, it was...very soothing."

 

"Yeah, that one helps me work things out; after yesterday and then Jeff this morning I just needed to go somewhere else for a bit.  Do you...do you want me to play something?"  She seemed hesitant, but Korra and Asami's fascination with her guitar and open expressions drew her out.  "Like I said the walls are thin and we mainly go with a hard rock sound, so I can't really give you a taste of the Runaway Hearts, but I know some others and...have a seat."

 

She took a few moments to center herself, working out her fingers and picking a tuneless tune, before she slowly began strumming.

 

" _When I find myself in times of trouble_  
_Mother Mary comes to me_  
_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

 _And in my hour of darkness_  
_She is standing right in front of me_  
_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, let it be_  
_Whisper words of wisdom_  
_Let it be_

 _When all the brokenhearted people_  
_Living in the world agree_  
_There will be an answer, let it be_

 _For though they may be parted_  
_There is still a chance that they will see_  
_There will be an answer, let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, let it be_  
_here will be an answer, let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, let it be_  
_Whisper words of wisdom_  
_Let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, let it be_  
_Whisper words of wisdom_  
_Let it be_

 _And when the night is cloudy_  
_There is still a light that shines on me_  
_Shine on 'til tomorrow, let it be_

 _I wake up to the sound of music_  
_Mother Mary comes to me_  
_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, let it be_  
_There will be an answer, let it be_

 _Let it be, let it be_  
_Let it be, yeah, let it be_  
_Whisper words of wisdom_  
_Let it be_ "

 

Her eyes had closed halfway through and she was singing to somebody far away, and after she finished she remained far away for a while before opening her eyes and smiling a small smile.  Korra and Asami were speechless, caught away just as she had been, and after a brief hesitation began applauding wildly (At least until they heard a banging on one of the walls).

 

"That was so beautiful.  Did you write it?"

 

"No, I...you don't know the Beatles?"  When they both shook their heads Janice was almost comically shocked.  "Whoever's been showing you around since you got here hasn't been doing their job properly, then" and she grabbed her phone and began quickly scrolling through its screen.  Before she could begin playing anything, though, she looked back up hesitantly.  "Uh...me and the girls are actually playing tomorrow night at a club, Stephanie knows the owner and...do you want to come?"

 

* * *

 

 

For the first time since they had gotten a good look at Joo Dee back at the military base at the North Pole and gotten used to her appearance, Korra and Asami stared at the people around them in confusion and more than a little bit of fear.  They had seen many different styles of clothing and many different skin and body types in this land, especially since they had arrived in this city, but the people swarming around the club where Janice was going to be playing were almost aggressively strange.  Their clothing alone was different; so much of it was darkly black, and it looked ripped and torn and stained, but deliberately so.  Makeup was dominated by dark colors and vicious smears.  Hair was not just shaved or styled, but cut into bizarre designs, in a multitude of colors, none of which looked natural. Even the skin was marked; designs and words and symbols were tattooed on arms and necks and faces, and there were metal piercings festooned in so many places on so many faces to make even Aiwei flinch.  The crowd looked actively hostile, threatening even, and as they were submerged in it Korra and Asami found themselves standing back-to-back in preparation for some sort of confrontation.

 

"Asami!  Korra!  Over here!"  Janice was waving to them over the crowd and they cautiously edged their way over to her, prepared to dive and knock her to the ground if the violence erupted before they got to her and...she was one of them, attired in the same garish, inhospitable looking style as everybody else there.  "I'm so glad you found the place, I wish I could have met you before but I had to come straight from work.  Come inside, I'll introduce you around before we get started."  She turned and plunged into the throng, and they parted easily before her, moving aside with the casual courtesy (Or not moving with casual obtrusiveness) of any other crowd of people.  Staring after her in confusion, Korra and Asami rushed to catch up and follow her inside.

 

The club itself looked just as inhospitable, but the staff were smiling and laughing as they worked to set up, and on one end was a stage where several people were assembling equipment.

 

"Korra, Asami, this is Stephanie, Bettany, and Rebecca, together we are the Runaway Hearts!" And all four of them simultaneously raised their right arms, with their index and pinky fingers extended above their heads.

 

"Nice to meet you, Jan was filling us in on what happened, what you two did was amazing."  Bettany was adjusting a set of drums as she spoke, but despite her appearance (And all the rest of them) her voice was friendly.

 

"Yeah, we might have needed to scrape up a replacement guitarist, and the only one I know we could have gotten on such short notice is Suzie Perkins and...ugh" Stephanie gave an exaggerated shiver at that, while Rebecca playfully shoved her shoulder.

 

"We still need to finish setting up, but the doors should be opening in about half an hour, so get a drink and...and enjoy the show!"  They all made the same hand gesture again, then turned back to their instruments as Korra and Asami wandered off.

 

A half-hour later, as Janice had said, the crowd began streaming into the club, shouting and cheering and talking and behaving like any other crowd, even though they were still an assault on Korra and Asami's eyes.  Then the lights lowered, the band stepped up to their instruments and....wow.

 

They were miles ahead technically of the kids that had performed at the festival, and they performed with the same gusto, so the final product was almost revolutionary.  It was as different as could be from the peaceful relaxation Janice had played them in her apartment the day before, filled with energy and screamed lyrics, but its passion carried them away just as far as the soothing melody had.  The audience was energized, singing along and shouting and clapping and dancing and....before the first song had even finished Korra and Asami had dived into the midst of them.  Their looks were no longer shocking, they were _exciting_ , bold and expressive and a visual accompaniment to the song and so eminently right against the music.  There was no form to the dancing, no structure, and that made it all the better as the pounding beat swept over them.  Around them and between them were the other members of the audience, each swinging their arms and moving in their own style, in a giant mess of energy and pure, visceral reaction.

 

The band segued into their second song and Korra suddenly felt a new presence close to her, close enough to be noticeable, and she realized a man she did not know was dancing beside her...no, was dancing _with_ her, close and matching her movements.  Over his shoulder she could see that a woman she did not know had also moved over to Asami.  Korra looked between them and...continued dancing.  Their eyes were bright, smiles wide, and they were feeling the music and energy like everybody else, and Korra let herself be swept along.  As the second song wound down the man drifted away, and she saw Asami herself move away from the other woman.  The third song started and...it was the same song that the festival had started with, the song which had first opened up these floodgates of music, and when they heard it performed with this technical skill Korra and Asami abandoned themselves completely to its power.

 

They drifted closer to each other, and if the song had been a bit less energetic they might have closed their eyes, but as it was they stared into each other's gaze as they closed.  They could feel their emotions roaring, surging along with the vicious guitar strumming and powerful drum beats and screamed lyrics, and heat was roaring within them just as the crowd roared around them.  Before they could think, or say anything, or work their way out of the crowded mess, they pulled themselves into each other and collided with fire and strength and glory unlike anything they had experienced before, as strong and deep as a mountain and rumbling like an earthquake.

 

By the time the fourth song started they were already oblivious to the world around them, numb to everything except the feel of each other and the roaring fire between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Runaway Hearts set list for the opening of their act:
> 
> "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways  
> "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts  
> "Love Bites" by Halestorm.
> 
> As you can probably tell, they're a hard rock band with proper appreciation for the classics as well, particularly Joan Jett (Then again, who doesn't love Joan?)


	60. Chapter 60

When Korra and Asami dragged themselves awake the next morning, long after the sun was up, they were still exhausted, but also infinitely refreshed.  They had stumbled back to Janice's apartment hours after midnight, with their bodies drained of all energy after hours of frenetic movement, but still riding high on the excitement and passion and outpouring that they had experienced.  If they were going to bring one thing back to their world it would be this music, which was still so new and fresh and unlike anything they would ever have imagined back home.  Now they were barely recovered from the exertion, groaning and creaking, but still filled with all of the fiery rush of the excitement.

 

"Janice?"  Asami called out.  On the previous two days they had been woken just past dawn as Janice left for work, but she was nowhere to be seen and they realized belatedly that it was edging already towards noon.  Had they missed her?  The apartment was small and easily searched, and in minutes they found a note taped to the inside of the door.

 

" _Had to leave for work, but I didn't want to wake you.  There's some coffee left over if you want it, lock up when you leave.  See you tonight!_ "

 

Korra stared numbly at the note, "How could she possibly have had the energy to get up so early after last night?"

 

"Maybe that coffee works even better than we thought."  Asami leaned over the pot and sniffed experimentally, but still had to draw back instead of testing out its regenerative abilities.  "I'll...I think I'll just stick with being tired."  Korra could not help but chuckle, and then they both began to run through the usual morning preparations of any normal day.

 

As she left the shower, Korra was idly singing to herself one of the songs they had heard last night.  It was in unfamiliar English, and the cadence was unnatural to her compared to their own language, but it had made an impression regardless.  "... _now you dont need money_ _when you look like that, do ya honey? /_ _Big black boots, long brown hair, she's so sweet with her get back stare..._ " *  Winding down, she noticed that Asami was staring at Janice's cosmetic supplies very intently.  "I know that look.  Are you just thinking about today's style, or are you designing some new makeup based airship?"

 

"Hmm?  Oh, I was just thinking about everybody last night at that club and how they looked so... **intense** .  Like  _everything_ they did was centered on that one show."

 

"I doubt the whole crowd went out and got tattoos just for this one performance."

 

"I know, but it was still  _for_ this show, even if it wasn't  **only** for it.  The way they dressed and their makeup and their hair, it was almost like devotion."

 

"I could understand that," Korra mused, "the way that music made me feel, it was like refreshment for the spirit.  If you'd grown up with it for your whole life, who knows how it would make you feel?"  She thought back to the extravagant piercings, the vibrant hair colors, and the overwhelming dark makeup that almost seemed to smother the eyes.  "Did you want to become one of them?"

 

"No, not like that," and Asami was leaning back from the cosmetics after applying just her usual artful display, "But...maybe?  Once I learn what it all means and understand what they're trying to say.  Right now, though, I'm not planning to just bathe myself in mascara."

 

"Good, I'd need some time to adjust, I'm not prepared to deal with all of the smudging" and Korra leaned forward to lightly kiss Asami's cheek, avoiding her freshly-applied lipstick.

 

* * *

 

 

The day before, Janice had told Korra and Asami how to find a library, and they had spent several hours there attempting to locate whatever information they could on the phenomenon that had brought them to this world.  Unfortunately there had been no new information since they had last seen scientific articles on the subject, and it seemed to be as much of a mystery to the people of this world as it was to them.  Many comments on what they  _could_ find found this lack of information to be suspicious, and made reference to everything from government oppression to aliens (Pete had explained "Aliens" to them a few weeks ago; as near as they could figure it referred to spirit creatures that most people did not believed existed, but were used heavily in fiction and as the center of paranoid conspiracies).  They were still unfamiliar enough with the world to be unsure which of the comments to take seriously and which to dismiss, so they found themselves without any appreciable new data.

 

They went back to the library again today and performed a desultory search for form's sake, but soon found themselves engrossed instead in researching the musical styles they had found themselves exposed to.  "Rock and Roll" seemed to be the most encompassing label, but within in that they found "hard rock", "punk rock", "heavy metal", "classic rock", "alternative rock" (Alternative to  _what_?), and then they discovered connections to other forms of music called "jazz" and "pop" and "funk" and "disco" and....the lists seemed endless, each new genre bringing with it a dozen new connections and inspirations and bands.  Hours passed with them just hearing snippets of sound and brief summaries

 

"Maybe Janice could show me how to use her guitar later tonight?" Asami mused as they were leaving, her hands idly making the vague motions she could easily duplicate, "to learn how that all works..."

 

"We could join her band!" Korra laughed, "Together we've already mastered pro-Bending and mechanical engineering, music is the next inevitable step!"  Asami giggled into her hand, but she could not deny that there was definitely a tug.  Probably not to the extent of actually joining Janice's friends, but to be able to evoke even a tenth of the emotion that had come out of her....

 

They were nearing the blocked-off road section for pedestrian traffic where they had put on a street performance on the past two days, they could already hear the various musicians plying their instruments and the other performer's bellowing out their speeches, when Korra's instincts twigged to....something.  Casually, she looked around, but she noticed nothing out of the ordinary, the same milling crowds, throngs of tourists and pedestrians, people holding up cameras to rec---the cameras.  On the previous days they were the kind of cameras built into the phones that they had come to grow familiar with, with a few larger models that they had learned were dedicated photographic devices scattered in the crowds, but now many of the audience had the larger, more powerful devices.  Many of the pedestrians also seemed to be lingering purposefully, as if waiting; they were drifting from performer to performer, talking and laughing like anybody else, but they were making very wide circles around the area, always returning back again.  If she did not know better, she could have said that these were people deliberately observing the performers here, analyzing each one for something specific, and....with a very slight pressure on Asami's arm, Korra kept walking past the fountain where she had first put on her water bending display two days ago.

 

"What is it?" Asami asked, recognizing the change almost instantly.

 

"I'm not sure, but there's....I think there are people here observing the performers.  I don't think we want to be here today."  They kept walking, slowly and calmly, and stopped themselves to watch the fire-worker who Asami had noticed when they first arrived here.  They applauded at his performance, gave him a tip, and kept walking, for all the world like just one of the other tourists.

 

They reached the end of the street and were about to turn off onto one of the side-streets when they heard a voice call behind them "Excuse me, ladies?  Do you have a moment?"  It was one of the possibly-suspicious tourists with a large camera, and he was waving to them like one audience member to another, but...was that a small device in his ear?  It looked like a headphone, which were so commonly worn as to almost be an article of regular clothing, and maybe he just wanted them to take his picture (Which they had done several times the day before), but Korra and Asami kept walking forward.  "Hold on a second."  They kept their pace casual, just two tourists who weren't paying attention or did not understand French, but then they heard heavier footfalls as he began to rush over.  As soon as they heard his approach they both lunged into a sprint; whatever he wanted, they did not want to be around to experience it.

 

"Freeze!  SPVM!  Police!  Remain where you are!"

 

Well, that settled that; ducking down the next alleyway they began dashing to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet


	61. Chapter 61

They could hear their pursuer pounding behind them, and as they ran down the alleyway Korra and Asami considered their options.  Escaping this one solitary person would not have been too difficult, even without bending; the city was so large and with so many people that evasion was potentially quite easy.  However, Korra thought back to the many suspicious-looking people populating the crowds, and escaping a large, organized pursuit was another matter entirely.  Who knew how many people were in front of them?  What equipment and technology they had?  What training or intent?  They had almost reached the end of the alley, ready to dash off at another angle, when the man who said he was a member of the police rounded the corner behind them.  They could hear him talking to somebody (Radio, Asami thought) and when he saw them about to leave his sight again he reached inside his jacket, again calling out to them to halt.

 

When she saw him reaching inside his jacket, which TV and movers had taught her was where people hid their guns, Korra spun around quickly and tossed her glider staff to Asami.  Facing the police officer side-on, she raised her leg and brought it down decisively, rolling the concrete on which they stood and sending it surging down the alleyway.  The man squawked in surprise as the ground heaved beneath him and tossed him off his feet, and something flew from his fingers as he crumpled to the ground.  Bringing her arms across her body, Korra curled up a slab of the ground and rolled it over his body, sealing him in place.  Seeing that he was contained, she turned again to Asami and they ran off down the street that crossed the end of the alley they were in.

 

"Listen, can you hear that?"  Sirens were a familiar sound no matter the source, and what sounded like a dozen of them had started up. Asami looked around and could not see them just yet, but they were definitely getting closer.  "There's more coming".

 

As if on cue, a large vehicle burst onto the street at one of the blocks further up and sped towards them.  It had no identifying marks or siren, but further away down the road (As if they had had more distance to travel) were the smaller cars with marks and lights that they had come to recognize as police vehicles.  From behind them, back down the alley that they had just travelled, they could hear the muffled noises of shouts and running.  Asami turned to run down the still-open road to one side, only to pull up after a bare few steps when men and women in uniforms began to spill onto the street and move purposefully towards them.  Seeing them, Korra stopped beside her and mumbled "I...uh...I think we're surrounded".

 

After a quick look at the people moving in from all directions, Korra turned to the buildings lining the street, looking for the tallest structure they could reach, which looked to be an apartment complex.  Dashing over, she and Asami burst inside (Korra had to metalbend the lock that held the door shut) and began climbing up the stairs, bypassing the elevator.

 

"Any idea what they want?" Asami asked as they climbed.

 

"I'm guessing they're working with the military, but how did they find us?"  Korra was thinking over anything that might have given them away, and could not picture it.  "There must have been hundreds of people making recordings here yesterday and the day before, with so many different performers, what made us stand out?  How would they have even been looking at this city?  They couldn't have looked through every video in the world!"

 

"Maybe they have a machine that can watch recordings for them?"  Now that she thought it, it seemed really obvious to Asami given all of the other electronic devices they had seen.  "A computer than can look for people?"

 

"If that's the case, wherever we go they'll be able to find us."  Korra's voice was not depressed, not quite, but the thought of being constantly hounded was not something which appealed to her.

 

"Let's focus on just getting out of here, and we can worry about that later.  What's your plan?"  Asami had followed Korra into this building without questioning, but did not know why she had picked this one in particular.

 

"It's simple: We get up to the roof and I fly us right over their heads  They don't have any bending to follow us, and once we're out of their sight we just blend right into the crowds."

 

"You know that the glider is not really designed for two people."  Asami was still carrying the staff so that Korra's hands would be free for any necessary bending and as they passed though a stair landing she hefted it in her hands. 

 

"I know, that's why we're getting up high.  I've done plenty of carrying people over small distances, and the building will give us a nice launching pad.  No problem."  Below them, they could hear the door to the stairway bang open and there came the noises of many heavy footsteps.  "I think it's just one more story".

 

Almost before Korra had finished talking they came upon the exit and burst onto the roof, with Korra sealing the doorway behind them.  The rooftop they were on was far from the tallest in the city, but it still loomed high.  Rushing to the edge, they looked down at the people swarming below.  Already there were a half-dozen vehicles with flashing lights halted in front of the building and what seemed like a swarm of uniformed officers.  Scattered amongst them were people dressed in what they could identify were plainclothes, as well as some dressed in what looked like full combat uniforms and outfitting.  Barricades were being erected, and crowds of civilians had already begun congregating and peering.

 

"Okay, let's go."  Korra took back the glider staff and sprung it open.  "It's about time I got a chance to try this out, anyway. Hold on!"  Grabbing Asami around the waist, Korra stepped up onto the ledge the leap off and heard many shouts coming up from below.  She was about jump, and was already readying for the airbending that would keep them aloft and hopefully get them beyond the surrounding police, when Asami grabbed her shoulders to hold her.

 

"Wait, do you hear that?"  It was a deep thumping sound, almost like....suddenly overhead was one of the flying machines they were being sporadically exposed to, marked as being part of the pursuing police, and holding its position above them to observe them wherever they went.  "I don't think we're going to be able to outfly that."

 

"Maybe not, but it's still _something_ ," and Korra leapt off the roof into the swirling airbending that she had readied.  From the crowd beneath them came a collective gasp, audible even far above, and then....Korra had almost forgotten how good it felt to _fly_.  It had been months since she had actually been able to soar, to feel the freedom of riding on the wind, and even with Asami dragging her down it was refreshing. No, _especially_ with Asami with her; the added weight and off-blanace drag was nothing compared to the feeling of having Asami join her in the air.  Asami half-shrieked in her arms, composed of equal parts terror and exhilaration.  She was used to flying certainly, whether in airship or airplane or aboard a flying bison, but always with something solid beneath her feet, strapped in securely.  To feel herself dangling above the ground, completely reliant on Korra to support her, was discomfiting to say the least, but...she could feel Korra's strength as she clung close, and she also had no doubt that she was as safe as if she had been piloting her own vehicle.

 

Korra grunted in exertion, flying with a passenger on the glider was much more than _just_ twice as hard, and she was already struggling to keep them aloft.  The crowds beneath them were still shouting and screaming, even louder than they had been when they first jumped, and there looked to be even more frenetic movement.  After the first block Korra looked down and saw that there were the flashing lights of another police car there; they had apparently spared no effort when setting up this attempted apprehension and they had set up several perimeter stations in the event that they had escaped their original location.  Korra re-doubled her airbending efforts to keep them aloft further, but was troubled by the steady _whump-whump-whump_ of the pursuing aircraft; even if they managed to get beyond the people on the ground, the ones in the air could direct the chase.

 

"You were right, we can't outfly that machine.  Any ideas?"  They were steadily, if slowly, descending to the ground, and in another block or two at most Korra would need to touch down.

 

"Actually, I think I do.  Try and set us down in that alley over there, it should block us from their view for a few seconds while they get overhead."  In moments they were on the ground, and except for an extremely startled-looking man who had been digging in one of the dumpsters they were completely alone at least for the next few seconds.  "Okay, if we can't escape them in the air, why don't we go _down_?  There are tunnels crossing all under the city, we've both heard the underground trains, if we go down there that flying machine can't follow us."

 

"What if they've got police down there, as well?"  But Korra's question was mainly _pro forma_ , and she was already feeling the ground.

 

"If they do we'll deal with it then, but I can't imagine that they'll have spread them out this far underground as well.  There has to be a limit to their resources."

 

"I hope so.  This might take me a few seconds, there's a _lot_ of pipes running through the ground here, but I can feel the tunnel beneath them all.  Let me just..."  Korra's stomp was not the heavy _thud_ usually used in earthbending, but a much lighter touch as she tried to slide the ground aside without ripping apart the devices that did who-knew-what that were buried beneath it.  The last thing she wanted was to open up the sewage systems, or something filled with explosive gas, or whatever else might have been pumped through the ground beneath them.  The ground groaned, a much higher pitch than usual, and then there was a gaping whole leading down to a tunnel, but obstructed with numerous bits of metal.  By now the flying machine was overhead again, and they could hear sirens approaching, but the way was (reasonably) clear.  "Let's go."

 

It took some squeezing and sliding to get around all of the pipes and equipment, but then they were in the tunnel and Korra had re-sealed the opening behind them.  They could hear the distant (And not-so-distant) rumblings of trains and engines and who-knew-what, but there were no police waiting there to grab them and no flashing lights rounding the corner.  It looked like Asami had been correct, and they had not strung the police throughout these tunnels, and now they had an opportunity to move themselves and escape this entrapped area.  Together, they began running down one of the tunnels, with Korra holding up a small firebending to light their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the previous chapter were not meant to be split in two, but I had to catch a train last night and if I hadn't thrown up what I had there wouldn't have been an update at all. That was a logical place to put the break, so it was easy to split into a cliffhanger.
> 
> There's also a slice of pretty huge irony, as I was catching a train to make it to a show, _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ , which (For those who don't know) bears a passing resemblance to Chapter 59 and the band I just created. So...wow, what are the odds? Seriously, I didn't have a clue.


	62. Chapter 62

"We have to be outside their search area by now," Asami said, after they had been walking through the tunnels for what seemed like hours.

 

Korra still held up the small flame to light their way, but all it showed was the same dark, dank tunnels they had been looking at all along.  Neither of them knew the layout of this subterranean section of the city, so actually navigating was a foregone thought.  "Any idea where we are?"  There was a distant rumbling of train passing in one of the other tunnels, but thankfully it did not sound like it was coming towards them. They had scrambled out of the way of oncoming trains twice already, and it was not an experience Korra was looking forward to repeating.

 

"No.  I think we've been heading north, but I'm not even sure about that.  Once we get outside we can find where we are and move from there.  The next time we pass one of those stations, we should go up to the street."  Asami walked close beside Korra, and together they were picking their way across the uneven ground, riddled with tracks, equipment, debris and devices they could not begin to guess at.  There were danger and warnings signs scattered everywhere, and electricity was running through several of the connections, so their progress was impeded by slow caution and very careful steps.

 

"Okay, the---" The sight of four uniformed police officers coming out of a side tunnel not ten feet in front of them brought Korra to a sudden halt.  With the rumblings of trains their footsteps and voices had been muffled and undetectable, and even the lights they were carrying had not been visible in the shifting, flickering light of her firebending.  By their almost comical stares at her and Asami they were probably just as surprised, and they stopped for precious instants before they began to react, which was all the time that Korra and Asami needed.

 

Asami darted forward first, towards the one who seemed to be reaching for what she had tentatively identified as the microphone for a radio.  Reaching up, she grabbed both the radio and the hand that was in motion, pulling the radio off his uniform and then dropping to the ground to pull the officer into a tumble to bring him off his feat.  His shout was more surprise than pain, but he was not positioned to resist and fell to his back with a _thud_ , momentarily stunned.  Asami turned to the other three, who had already shown they were _far_ better trained than their fight with the bikers outside of the city, each taking several steps back to leave her effective range and reaching for the weapons they all had holstered.  Then Korra entered the fray.

 

A sudden gale of wind caught all three from the side and staggered them backwards, but Asami noted that it seemed like a weaker gust than she had seen Korra make many times before, so why....Asami noticed that one of the "Danger" signs was directly behind where the police were standing, did Korra not want to knock them into harm?  That must have been it, as Korra did not knock them back again, but instead whipped at them with a stream of water.  The tunnels down here were very damp, with puddles that had been stagnant for who-knows-how-long scattered around the ground, and Korra had quickly drawn it all to her and formed it into a long, crystal-clear waterbending stream.  She spun in place, raising her right arm above her head and gesturing with her left, and it surged out in a wide curve that encircled the three police, and when she brought her arms together again it tightened and pulled them off their feet, solidifying into ice to keep them bound.  With another gesture a separate stream ran around the man Asami had already knocked to the ground.

 

The entire confrontation had taken less than ten seconds, and now Korra and Asami stood over four bound police officers who were all shouting and speaking very rapidly to one another and them.

 

Korra and Asami's plan after first entering the tunnels had been to hide to avoid detection in the event that they stumbled across anybody, not to fight, since even if they were able to defeat who actually found them it would just start the entire ordeal all over again with the larger pursuit.  Finding themselves face-to-face like that had made hiding an impossible option, so they had had to silence the police before they could report to their superiors or the other searchers.  Now they had to escape before these four's absence was noted, and hope that there was not some sort of automatic transmission that was already summoning reinforcements.  However, since they had this opportunity...  Korra and Asami walked over to the one who had reacted the most quickly, reaching for his radio, and whom Asami had disabled first.

 

"Why are you trying to capture us?" Korra asked.

 

"Just go ahead and get it over with," he said.  He looked older than his companions, maybe the leader, and was glaring at them with tired resignation.

 

Korra and Asami looked at each other in confusion, wondering what 'it' was.  "We have broken none of your laws in this land, we only wished to not be held in captivity.  Why are the police trying to capture us?"  He only stared at them in his own confusion, while behind them the other three officers were speaking themselves, and in the echoing tunnels it was a meaningless cacophony of noise.  Seeing that there was not going to be any meangingful communication, at least not in bare moments, Korra and Asami prepared to leave.  The four police were dragged over to the side of the tunnel and raised onto one of the lips there, to keep them out of the path of any trains travelling through. Their equipment was all removed and destroyed to prevent them from calling anybody until Korra and Asami were far away (Asami briefly considered keeping one of their radios, to listen in on their pursuers, but the thought that it might somehow be tracked or signal its compatriots quickly got her to put it down) and then they were off.

 

They moved more quickly now that they knew the tunnels were being searched, but the solitary nature of these searchers and their surprise indicated that Asami had been correct; they were not pre-positioned down here, but had only begun filtering down after their escape from the original trap.  There would not be the endless backups and choke points, and if they could get out of here before anybody was sent specifically to look for the four they had disabled they stood a good chance of slipping away.  A few minutes later they noticed a change to the light quality, and they came across one of the underground stations they had already passed and where they hoped to be able to blend in with the crowd and merge with the pedestrians up above.  Unfortunately, it looked completely empty of passengers, instead populated solely by a scattering of police that were clearly part of this search.

 

They had taken too long, their pursuers had managed to get themselves established.

 

Except....Korra noticed that there were only (She counted quickly) five of them here, with none of the equipment or support they had seen outside of the building when they took their flight.  That meant....  Asami leaned over and whispered in her ear "They have to have people at every station they can, they must be stretched very wide and can't have backup right here.  If we're quick, we can get past them and out before anybody else gets here."  Korra nodded and readied herself, and Asami stepped back away from her.  Speed was critical here, just as critical as back in the tunnel; these officers had to be disabled so quickly as to not be able to contact anybody else, and quickly enough for Korra and Asami to be able to rush past them, up to the street, and hopefully into anonymity on the road.  Quietly, so as not to be seen or heard, Korra began to draw water up from the tunnel behind them, more than she had gathered before.  More than she usually gathered.  She pulled from as far away as she could reach until it floated behind her like a floating pool and she had enough to work with, and she drew it forward over her arms until it was like an extension of her own body.  When she was ready, she nodded to Asami and dashed forward, flinging her arms ahead of her.

 

The water rushed forward in a torrent, but not as a single harsh blast.  It split into five separate arcs that caught each police officer individually, then condensed almost instantly, and in less than time than it had taken Asami to knock down that one officer down in the tunnel Korra had all five of the ones here imprisoned in blocks of ice.  None had had time to even _reach_ for their radio, let alone contact anybody.  After quickly checking to make sure that none of them would have any trouble breathing until the ice metled or they were found by somebody else, Korra and Asami dashed up to the street and were ecstatic to see that it held the usual crush of countless, milling people engaged in every activity humans could do.

 

They had made it.


	63. Chapter 63

They did their best not to hurry, look about frantically, or do anything to call attention to themselves as they walked.  They could still hear sirens roaring back and forth in the distance, and once a police car rocked down the street next to them, but none seemed to be centered on them.  There were no furtive glances sent their way and no shouts, and it looked like they truly had emerged outside the active search area.  Around them the people went about what seemed to be a completely average day, almost oblivious to the distant activity except for what seemed to be a higher-than-average focus on their phones, which Korra and Asami knew would probably be showing news information.  For now, they were just another two women lost in the crowds.

 

"Where to now?" Korra asked.

 

"However they found us they know we're here in Montreal, so we need to leave the city as soon as we can before they find us again.  We should go get our motorcycle and leave right away."  Asami spoke evenly and determinedly, but Korra could tell she did not want to leave after they had only just arrived a few days ago and seen so little of he city.  Unfortunately, she did not see any alternative, either, unless they wanted to constantly be on the run from the police.  They had to go somewhere where they were not being actively searched for.

 

"Janice won't be back for several hours yet, we won't be able to say goodbye."

 

"Good.  That will...that'll make it easier, we won't need to explain anything.  We can leave her a note, or--no, we'll call her once we're out of the area, she gave me her phone number yesterday.  If we're just gone when she gets back hopefully she won't get in any trouble if the police track us back to her apartment."  The thought that they might have gotten Janice in trouble after she had been kind enough to let them stay at her apartment weighed heavily, but they had very few options. At least they had not gotten the impression that the people of Canada actively feared their government, and had not seen a presence like the Dai Li, so hopefully they would treat one of their own better than they had Korra and Asami.  They could hope, at least.

 

They had considered just getting their motorcycle out of the garage directly, but they had left a bag of their daily clothing and money in Janice's apartment itself, and they did not have enough to be sanguine about leaving it behind, so they went into the apartment building itself.  They did not have a key to let themselves into Janice's apartment, and Korra was planning on having to metalbend the lock open, but to their surprise the door was unlocked when they arrived and they cautiously pushed it open.

 

"Hello?"  Korra called out.

 

"Hey guys, come on in."  Janice was inside, apparently boiling something in the tiny kitchen.  "What brings you back so soon?  You usually stay out all day."

 

"We...uh...were still felling tired from your show last night.  Why are _you_ here?  I thought you worked until the early evening?"  Asami was looking around closely, as if checking for a hidden ambush.

 

"The shop closed early today, have you heard the news?   There was some sort of huge police operation downtown, shutting down roads and the Metro, and my boss was scared there was a terrorist attack coming or something so he sent everybody home.  With pay, too!  Can you believe it?  Are you hungry?  I've got more noodles," She had not stopped moving as she spoke, and pulled two small white packages out of a cupboard.

 

"No, we're fine, we, uh, actually just ate.  What happened downtown?"  Korra had been surreptitiously collecting the few belongings they had scattered around the apartment and packing them away.

 

"I don't know, I only caught part of the report on the way home, something big, whatever it was.  Here, let me get the news for you," and before either of them could stop her she had turned on the TV lining one wall of the room, then she turned back to her noodles.

 

As much as they would have liked to stay and watch, and learn as much as they could, both Korra and Asami felt it was more important to move as quickly as possible before things grew even more complicated, and Asami turned back to their host.  "Janice, thank you so much for letting us stay here these past few days, but we actually need to head out of the city now."

 

"What?"  The question was sharp, almost shouted, and the stirring spoon she was using almost dropped to the floor before she caught it.  "You've only been in town for like three days, what's going on?"

 

"I got a call from...my mother....she wants us to meet some friends that are also visiting Canada and show them around since we have already been here for a while.  They will be arriving in Ottowa," Asami could practically see Korra deflate in relief that she had remembered the name of the other city they had heard about, "so we need to head out right away."

 

"That's a little short notice, isn't it?  They couldn't give you a little warning?  What if...what if...."  Janice's voice trailed off, and her expression had grown a little slack as she looked past them, and Korra and Asami turned around to see what she was staring at.  She was, it turned out, staring at _them_ : On the TV news were photographs of each of them displayed on the screen.  They recognized themselves, how they had looked when they had been at the military base up near the North Pole, and in very large letters beneath their images was written 'POLICE STILL SEEKING UNIDENTIFIED SUSPECTS' as the reporter continued to drone about the operation downtown and fears of a terrorist threat.  Now the spoon _did_ drop to the floor and Janice made a little strangled sound.

 

"Hold on Jan, it's not what you think," Asami said, and had to fight a wince at the line.  When had that _ever_ worked?

 

"What did you **do**?  Ohmigod..."

 

"No, Jan, listen to me, it's _not_ what you think.  We haven't attacked anybody and we are not terrorists."  Korra stepped forward, maybe to embrace Janice, but she jerked back instinctively.  "We're not going to hurt you or anybody else, right now we're just trying to leave Montreal before anything else happens."

 

"Look, we've already gotten our things," Asami held up the bag that Korra had passed to her a second ago with all of their belongings, "and we're on our way out."  Janice was still staring at them in shock as they edged towards the door.  "Thank you very much for letting us stay here, we won't bother you anymore."  Just before they exited, Asami paused and turned back.  "You made very beautiful music Janice."

 

Then she and Korra were running as fast as they could down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

 Their motorcycle roared out of the garage and dashed down the street, but Asami quickly closed down the throttle to a more reasonable city pace; attracting attention was something that they wanted to avoid.  She meandered down the roadways, edging westwards, but she did not head directly towards any of the bridges that would heave lead off the island.  "I don't think we can try the roads, there's bound to be checkpoints on all the bridges.  Any ideas?"

 

"I've got one.  Head towards the west waterfront and let me think."  Korra eased up her grip across Asami's stomach just a little bit, as close to leaning back as she could come while riding a motorcycle, and considered.  The roads were relatively clear, as if people were staying inside, but there was enough traffic that they were not particularly conspicuous.  They would have a few minutes before they got to the water, and she considered what she was planning to do.  No sirens sprouted around them as they had feared, and they rode in relative peace.

 

As they approached the waterfront they began to hear the characteristic _whump-whump-whump_ of the flying machine approaching.  Was it actively seeking them out specifically, or just searching randomly?  Should they hide or try to break out now?    As if answering Korra's unspoken thoughts, Asami opened the throttle a little bit wider: They were escaping now.

 

"We're only a few blocks from the water, what's your plan?"

 

"Do you trust me?"  Korra asked.

 

Trust her?  That was a very big, complicated question.  Trust her judgment?  Trust her intentions?  Trust her abilities?  All of them?  Without even knowing what Korra had planned, how could Asami form a rational conclusion?  What should she be basing her decision on?  There was so much to consider, so many factors, so many...

 

"Yes, I trust you."  The words had to be shouted to be heard over the noise of the engine and the wind, but they were as calm and certain as if they had been spoke in normal conversation.

 

"Go right over the edge, I'll carry us across," and Korra was rewarded by an even heavier _thrum_ from the engines as Asami opened the throttle as wide as it could go and drove directly towards the edge the island.  With an earthen shudder a ramp sprouted out of the ground beneath them, carrying them over the barriers and walls and debris that had been built up in front of the waterfront, and they were arcing out over the water.  It was a dirty, muddy water, filled with all of the refuse and chemicals and detritus of shipping and waterfront buildings, but it was still waiting to swallow them up and suck them down.  Then, from behind Asami, came a sudden bright glow, shining whitely, and a ramp angling down lunged up out of the water to catch them, and the ramp levelled out to a road stretching out across the water, with stone heaving up out of the murky blackness to meet them and forming together into a highway as wide and long as they could need.

 

With the _whump-whump-whump_ fading behind them, they rode down the road Korra had summoned up from the bedrock of the lake and sped towards the distant shore.


	64. Chapter 64

They rode for as long as they could after they emerged from the Lake of Two Mountains, clambering back onto the roadway and continuing to head west.  Korra had submerged their crossing behind them to obscure exactly where and when they had come out, but it had been so large and crossed so much water that it was impossible for it not to have been noticed while they crossed.  Added to everything that had happened in the midst of the city earlier in the day, there had to be recordings and eye-witnesses of bending galore, and they did not expect that its existence could remain a surprise for their next confrontation, whenever it was.  As day darkened into night they continued riding, and only stopped well after midnight when their exhaustion combined with the darkness to make it a truly dangerous circumstance.  They pulled their bike well off from the road, stopped in the empty spaces between towns, and Korra pulled an earth tent over them and the motorcycle to hide them from prying eyes.  Then they both lay down to wait for sleep.

 

It did not come so easily.

 

"Asami, I don't..."  Her voice wound down and was silent for several moments before she continued.  "I don't want to spend the rest of our lives running.  Not here.  Not living in the woods, never seeing anybody and cut off from everything we've learned.  But I don't see what we can do, not if they can track us down no matter where we go.  Unless I destroy every machine they send after us and every soldier that chases us....we're hundreds of miles from _Ville de Moores_ , it must be thousands from that base where they first held us, and they still had our pictures and were looking for us.  They just _knew_ where we were and were waiting for us.  How can we outrun that?  Do I use my power to take over and _force_ them to stop hounding us?  What do I become then?"

 

Asami was silent herself before she replied, and half of her response was nonverbal as she turned onto her side and wrapped Korra in a tight embrace, pulling Korra's head into the crook of her neck.  "You don't need to _become_ anything except what you already are, the strong, amazing woman that has already done so much.  And you don't need to take over, or even think about that.  We're going to figure this out, just like we have every time before; we'll understand this technology better than we already do, learn how they can possibly find out where we are, and we'll work around it.  Behind their electronics they're just people, they're not even all bad people, and if....if...." She was struggling to continue, but forced it out, "if you were able to reach Kuvira, able to get her to understand what she was doing and come back from that abyss, we can sort out this situation as well."

 

Korra was ready to disagree pessimistically, to point out that Kuvira was only one person and she had not needed to reach an entire army, but she discovered that she did not _want_ to disagree.  With Asami wrapping her up tightly, and speaking such words of encouragement, she just wanted to accept them and see that the future was still as open as it had been that morning, when everything had seemed so problem-free.  Smiling, she did not say anything and just let Asami hold her until they both fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

"We should call Janice."  They had just finished packing up their camp in the morning after having eaten a meagre breakfast of food bars (Already they were missing the restaurants of the city, particularly the ones which were so close to the food they had known back home) when Korra turned to Asami.  "Try to explain, just so that she understands that we're not...whatever they've been calling us on TV."

 

"They were calling us terrorists," Asami said, and her voice was cold.  "After the Equalists and my father, everything that happened four years ago, to still be called a terrorist _now_....yes, let's call her.  But not with our phone," and she pulled it out of Korra's hands before it could be opened.  "Until we have figured out how their technology works, how they can track us, we shouldn't use this.  Maybe they can follow it, or see who else we've called."

 

"Then how?"

 

"There are public phones, sometimes, when we reach the next town or gas station we'll call from there.  If they can locate the source of the call then we'll be far away by the time they get there."

 

"Maybe...maybe it's a bad idea, if they can trace it after all, maybe we shouldn't call at all."

 

"No, we can't let fear like that dominate us.  It took them two months to find us after we escaped from the plane, we've made plenty of phone calls and travelled far across the nation, their technology doesn't make them all-knowing or impossible.  We just...we just need to be smart about it."

 

"Smart.  Got it.  So, I'll just follow your lead, then?" And Korra laughed as Asami swatted at her shoulder.

 

They rode for several hours before they decided to stop and make the call, passing several towns over when they decided to put just a little more distance between them and the city, but they did find one of the public phones placed out in front of a gas station which seemed even more run down than the others that they had seen.  There was little else around, no local police forces that they were aware of or somebody to observe them, and it seemed as isolated as they could get without marching back into the woods.  It took them only an instant to learn how the phone worked, and they called the number Janice had given them, both crowding around the hand unit as it rang.

 

"Hello?"  It was surprising how energetic it felt to hear her voice after just a day, especially considering they had only known her for three.  Maybe it was just that she was from a brief period of familiarity.

 

"Janice?  It's Korra and Asami."

 

"Oh my god, I'm so happy you called, I was getting so worried with the way you just left without saying anything yesterday."  Left without saying anything?  But they had....Asami's eyes widened at the same instant that Korra's focused together.  "Where are you two?"

 

"We're...traveling.  Like we talked about, just seeing the land.  Sorry we didn't get a chance to say goodbye yesterday, but it came up pretty suddenly."

 

"Well, everybody here was so surprised to hear you had disappeared like that.  My friend Jack--you remember, you met him a few days ago in the morning--was hoping to see you again."  Her voice sounded so calm and normal, like she was talking to two friends that had casually left town and not to people she thought might have terrorists.  And Jack...Jack had been the man she had argued with outside of her building the day after they first met, and he had never spoken to Korra and Asami at all.

 

"I'm sorry, please tell Jack that we hope we can make it up to him some time, but we can't really make it back right now."

 

"I'll tell him you called, but he's gonna be sorry. Where did you two say you were again?"

 

"I'm not really sure of the exact location, we're just a little bit outside of Montreal.  We stopped early last night and slept in this morning, so we haven't gotten very far.   We're heading east, just to see what it's like."  Was there somebody with Janice?  Listening to the call?  Trying to get information?  Was she trying to tell them something with clues, or was she hoping that they would give something away in confusion?

 

"I've actually got family out east, let me know where you're heading and I can probably have somebody meet you and show you around."

 

"Thanks, but that's not necessary, we're trying for the real first-hand experience, getting our hands into the dirt."

 

"Are you sure?  They know where all the good stuff is.  Where are you going?"  Somebody was prompting her for her to be this insistent.

 

"Nowhere in particular, just cruising.  Listen, we actually have to go, long day on the road, we just wanted to check in and let you know we were okay."

 

"Wait, don't go, let's catch up!"

 

"Sorry, goodbye Janice," and they quickly placed the handset back in its cradle and then stared at the phone for moments.

 

"Somebody was with her," Asami said, and Korra nodded in agreement.  "They were trying to find out where we are."

 

"She was saying things which didn't make sense, maybe trying to warn us?"

 

"Maybe, but..."  Asami exhaled heavily "Quick, we need to get out of here before they follow the line."

 

Korra nodded and they remounted their motorcycle and sped off down the road as rapidly as they could, taking every cross-street they came to to put as much distance and cross-spaces between them and the phone as they could.  They traveled in silence, without speaking, and they felt just a little bit more lonely than they had before they called.


	65. Chapter 65

"We need to stop hiding."  The statement came out apropos of nothing, as Korra and Asami were stopped for a brief, unfilling lunch beside the road. They had ridden long the day before after calling Janice, putting as much distance behind them as they could, and had left early this morning as well to continue the journey.  By now they were hundreds of miles away from Montreal, with only the vaguest of ideas of where they actually were, and they planned to continue well into the evening tonight as well.  Their rest breaks were brief and distantly scattered, and they were already planning to scramble back onto the motorcycle in a few minutes.

 

"What do you mean?" Korra asked.

 

"All we've done is try and hide and not be noticed, and that hasn't worked out for us.  Unless we just stop doing everything, never help anybody we come across and you never bend again, we're going to keep being spotted.  Keep being recorded with the cameras that are everywhere.  And we'll keep being chased by the police and the military."

 

"They're not going to stop, anyway, they think we're...I don't know, they think we're spies or something.  They're even saying terrorists now."  Korra had put down what was left of her food bar and slid over to sit next to Asami.  "If we just walk into a police station to announce who we are they're going to attack us."

 

"I don't mean we should tell everybody where we are or anything, but....I'm not even sure what I  **do** mean, just that we shouldn't need to hide who we are.  Who  _you_ are.  We shouldn't have to be afraid like this."

 

"We just spoke about this yesterday, what's changed?"

 

"Nothing has changed, I just...I don't like being helpless or cowering."  And to Korra's surprise there were tears on Asami's cheeks, very light drops that she had  _almost_ managed to hold back.  "I know I was the one saying we should keep a low profile, but I thought we'd have discovered a way home by now, or be on the trail.  Or that we'd have managed to elude the search completely, or convinced them that we're not dangerous.  But unless we discover something radically new about what brought us here, and now that I see how serious they are about finding us I think a lot of the people on the internet are correct about information being suppressed, we're going to be stuck in this world for a long time.  Longer than I'd originally thought, and I don't want to spend all that time burying who we are.  A month, or two months, or even longer is one thing if there's an end date, but to just hide  _forever_..."  Asami did not finish the sentence, but she did not have to.  The thought of running and hiding forever was like a lump settling into the stomach, infinitely worse than any specific length of unpleasantness.

 

"So...what, then?"

 

"For the big picture, I'm not sure.  Like I said, I barely know what I'm even trying to say.  For the small picture, however....let's go shopping."

 

* * *

 

 

The hardware store which they had found was small and poorly stocked by the standards of what they had come to know in this land, especially compared to the vastness of Montreal, but it still seemed like a smorgasbord compared to the small, specialized shops in Republic City.  Aisles and aisles of tools and equipment, metal and wood and earth supplies, stretched out before them like a playpen set aside for their own personal enjoyment.  Or, in better terms, like an arsenal ready for their armament.

 

Pulling a cart behind them, Korra and Asami walked down the aisles, pulling off the shelves lengths of metal cables and wiring, small sections of sheeting, battery packs (Single-use and rechargeable--the idea of portable, easily rechargeable batteries had astounded Asami even more than the computers of this world.  The thoughts of what she could accomplish with that technology made her mind expand), and miscellaneous supplies like fabrics, nails, screws, tape and other odds-and-ends.  They briefly paused at the thought of what it all might cost, since only two days of street performances had not given them an overflowing wallet, but they pushed on regardless.  It was important.

 

The attendant who helped them with their purchases raised an eyebrow when he saw all that they had, but it was a look of surprise, not suspicion, and he apparently made no connection between them and the pictures of them in the news stories.  Thinking about it, Korra and Asami were unsurprised; they had been on the ice for a week and just been rescued when their pictures were taken at the military base, worn down with hunger and fatigue and dressed in the clothing of the facility.  Now dressed in local clothing, hundreds of miles away from where they were last known to be, it would have been a truly suspicious shopkeeper indeed to have regarded them with mistrust.  He tallied up their order, made a minor remark about "ladies such as yourselves needing all this", and then they were out the door and back on the bike.  Their supplies were slung alongside in two new saddlebags (They were starting to get overloaded now, if they got anything else they would need to either buy a trailer or switch to a car) and then they sped out of town, once again stopping only when they were far into the woods and away from any prying eyes.  Then, they got to work.

 

Just working raised their spirits.  For Asami it was like being back at the garage, or even being back at her Future Industries workshop, as she shaped with precision whatever her mind could envision.  For Korra, the sensation of feeling the metal bend in her hands, using her abilities without fear of being observed or wondering what might happen, was a release almost as great as when she had briefly been flying again.  They worked almost in silence, speaking just to give directions or requests, but it was an easy, companionable silence like they had had together before they went to Montreal.  Like back when they had been surviving in the woods.  Working together, at ease with one another, and focused on the situation directly in front of them.

 

They had not finished by the time it was time to make camp for the evening, they were taking things very slowly and carefully, but they had made a lot of progress.  The cables had been smoothed and stretched into a long, flexible cord that bent and rolled easily, and Asami had begun connecting the battery packs to a discharge station.  Perhaps even more importantly than the actual mechanical works was the sensation of _doing_ something, preparing to face whatever might come at them.

 

They slept much more easily that night.


	66. Chapter 66

A uniformed NCO stepped through the door and braced to attention, "The General will see you now, sir."

 

Lieutenant-colonel Monke rose to his feet and nodded, "Thank you, Corporal.  Lead the way," and he followed him back into the private office of Major-general Saint-Amand.  He paused when he heard what sounded like a phone conversation being held beyond the door, but the Corporal waved him forward and he entered.

 

"Yes, sir, I understand.  Of course."  Saint-Amand sat behind his desk with a phone held to his ear and he waved Monke into the open seat, then dismissed the escort with another wave.  He was turned slightly to the side as he spoke and Monke wondered why he had not waited until the call was over.  "I've actually got him in my office right now, we're going to review everything.  I'll give you a full update once I've learned where we stand.  Thank you.  Goodbye Mr. Nicholson"

 

Monke resisted a deep breath as Saint-Amand hung up and it made sense; he had wanted to let him know that he was speaking to the Minister of National Defense, without being so crass as to mention it directly during their following conversation like a threat to tattle to a parent.

 

"Thank you for coming in, George."

 

"My pleasure, sir.  I take it the Minster isn't happy?"

 

"Not at the moment, no, and I can't really say I blame him.  Just what exactly happened out there?"  Saint-Amand had been a starred officer for years, he knew  _exactly_  how to tone himself, and right now Colonel Monke knew that he wanted the truth  _very_ succinctly.

 

"Details are still being collated, sir, and I'd be happy to expand on anything you want clarified, but right now it looks like they escaped the Montreal net completely, and in only a matter of hours.  They...disabled...a number of police officers during the immediate pursuit and then vanished."

 

"And this, Colonel?"  Saint-Amand pressed a key on his keyboard and then swiveled the monitor around to face across the desk, which was showing one of the news broadcasts recapping the event and had a very large 'SUSPECTED TERRORISTS STILL AT LARGE' title scrolling across the screen.  "Where the _hell_ did this come from?"

 

"Still unknown at the time, sir, but I think this might be my fault."  He hurried forward at Saint-Amand's sudden glare, "I don't mean I leaked this, sir, but I gave Major Harrison--our liaison on-point--instructions to divulge as little as possible regarding what we knew about their history and goals during his briefings with the SPVM.  Not that we knew that much to begin with.  I wanted to keep as tight a control as we could.  With us giving them next to nothing on background, the police _had_ to be trying to theorize themselves and...people jump to 'terrorists' when a car backfires, somebody probably leaked it to the press thinking he had cracked the secret."

 

"This was already a mess without throwing this kind of panic into the mess, the CSIS, city government and I have been trying to shovel responsibility around for two days now.  Let me have the full story, the pieces that came in as-is have me scratching my head."

 

"Yes, sir."  He paused the marshal his thoughts, the continued, "I'd very much like to lay the blame for the escape on the Montreal police, and it probably was somebody on their staff who leaked the terrorism angle, but I saw their preparations and they set up what  _should_ have been a very effective cordon.  Unless I'm getting a  **heavily** fudged after-action report from them that covers up a massive bungle somewhere they covered every angle they could.  Especially on such short notice.  Major Harrison was on-site coordinating directly with the Director and he reported no jurisdictional pushback, which to be honest surprised me, but I guess somebody got in touch over his head and applied some pressure."  He paused in case Saint-Amand wanted to comment on that, but he got a stony silence in reply.  "I wasn't part of the immediate planning, but the videos we were originally directed to on YouTube of them...well, I guess they were putting on a show to beg for money, were not clear enough for a definite ID, so they had several plainclothes detectives placed in the area to observe and hopefully give a direct confirmation.  They had uniforms and Tactical Response Officers stationed to support once they were ready to apprehend."

 

"I wish we could have handled direct intervention, not had to bring in the locals, but the Minister couldn't swing more than an on-site presence.  An RCAF operation in downtown Montreal?  There would have been a riot, lead by the Mayor and Premier."

 

"I'd have liked to be more involved, too, sir, but I don't see what kind of difference it would have made unless we wanted to start shooting off the bat."

 

"What, exactly, do you mean by that Colonel?"  His voice was quiet now, not judgmental, not Monke knew he had to be _very_ careful how he answered the question.

 

"Like I said, sir, this was a very well-handled operation.  They had people on-site, backup on standby, and they had pre-arranged responses for initial escapes in several different directions.  Major Harrison reports that they had teams responding less than a minute after one of their detective made an initial identification and that they  _had_ managed to block off roadways and walkways.  It should have been an easy matter to sweep in and apprehend, but...this was like when they jumped from the SuperHerc; if I didn't know it was real I'd think it was some sort of stunt."

 

"I take it you're referring to their leap from the top of the building?  They've been replaying that clip every ten minutes, there must have been a thousand different videos put on the internet from the watching crowd."

 

"Yes, sir, but not only that.  We have better visuals from the tech personnel on site that we're analyzing, it doesn't look possible that that kite they were holding could have carried them so far or allowed them to maneuver like they did.  Once they set down...we have visual from the 'copter the police had observing that shows them climbing into the Metro through a hole in the pavement, but when the responders got to that alley there was no hole."

 

"Just what are you saying?"

 

"Sir, I honestly do not know _what_ it all means.  I haven't been on-site, but Harrison has and he personally inspected every point that he could reach; there is **no** break in the concrete in that alley where they went down into the Metro, this must have been a pre-planned escape route that was sealed after they went down.  How, though, escapes us.  Down in the tunnels themselves they disabled nearly ten officers in two different encounters, both times too quickly for them to get a shot off or even radio for help.  Whoever these two women are, they are _good_ , maybe even better than we've thought.  By all accounts the cops they ran into in the tunnels were hallucinating during their encounters, so maybe they've got access to hallucinogenics or something, but whatever the explanation, there's something big behind it.  Plus, I think they might even be toying with us."

 

"What? They've been silent for a month, begging for money on the street.  No contact or messages at all."

 

"Yes, sir, but yesterday they placed a call to the person they'd been staying with in Montreal.  A...hold on, let me remember---right, a Jonathan Nought.  He called the cops two days ago once he saw their pictures on the news, said he had no idea what was going on and had just been letting them stay at his place for a few days after bumping into them on the street, and that he hadn't seen them since the night before.  From what I can tell he's been cooperating.  Anyway, they called him yesterday, claimed that they had left the city just to go sightseeing, and that was it.  That was our first idea that they'd left the city at all, there was no hint that they'd made it off the island and the cops were still scouring the Metro tunnels and usual rat holes.  The cops traced the call to a payphone over the border into Ontario; if they hadn't called in we'd _still_ be dredging the city.  With the way they were suppressing communications during their escape--they made sure to disable every radio they had time to get to, by the way--they had to know that would be a flag for us.  They were sending a message that they'd gotten away completely."

 

"Christ, who _are_ these people?"

 

"Still unknown, and we have no idea how they evaded the checkpoints that had been set up by the SPVM and the SQ, but I think---" Monke was cut off when the phone on the General's desk began to ring, and Saint-Amand picked it up instantly.

 

"Yes? .....thank you, I'll check on that right now."  He hung up and turned back to Monke, "There's apparently a new video of the escape taken by a civilian that's been posted on-line and is circling--I cannot believe we're getting intelligence from YouTube.  Hold on, I'll bring it up, I want to see this as soon as I can."  A few seconds later, the computer monitor that had previously been showing a news report was now displaying a standard YouTube upload.  This one was jerky and shaking, barely twenty seconds long and badly focused, but it showed what seemed to be a motorcycle bearing two women going hell-for-leather riding on what seemed to be the unsupported water of Lake of Two Mountains.  Monke had been in uniform for too long to lose control, but when he saw that video he wanted nothing so much as to lay his head in his hands and say ' _Fuuuuuuuuuuu..._ '

 

"Well, Colonel, I think we can now say we know how they managed to escape off the island."

 

"Yes, sir."


	67. Chapter 67

"Hurry up!  Hurry up!  _Hurry the fuck up!"_   Franco's voice was nearly a shriek, and Al was shaking as he looked over his shoulder to see what was going on over at the register.  The cashier was frozen in place, not moving despite the gun that Franco was practically forcing into his mouth, and Franco was getting more and more agitated.  "Open the goddamn register or I swear I will shoot you now.  Now!"  The couple huddled in the corner under Al's gaze were shivering at every shouted word, and the constantly droning news from the TV hung on the wall was not helping to calm the frayed nerves.

 

"Frankie, what are we doing here?  We gotta go man, we gotta go _now."_

 

"Shut up, Al!  We're not going anywhere until this son of a bitch opens the register, and I will...I will kill you and open it myself if you don't do it!"  This was not how this was supposed to have happened.  Bobby was supposed to be working tonight and he always stepped out back for a weed break and never bothered to lock up, everybody knew that, they had worked this _out_.  Walk in with nobody in the store, grab the money and leave.  If Bobby came back early he would know not to say anything, just stay out of the way and call the cops once they were gone.  Not....not _this_.

 

". _..still no leads on the unidentified suspects that escaped from a Montreal Police Service operation downtown almost a week ago.  Official communiques have refuted early claims of terrorist activity, but unnamed sources within the service have continued to stand by original statements.  This symbol, which was painted on the kite parachute which they used in their daring escape, has been linked to several different organizations both foreign and domestic, none of which have stepped forward to proclaim a connection.  Government agencies have refused to comment on the current search parameters, but sources within the Quebec Provincial Police have stated that the investigation is ongoing and has moved beyond the Montreal city boundaries..."_

 

Al wanted to put his foot into the TV to get it to **shut up** , or maybe shoot it, but he had never actually pulled the trigger before on his gun and....behind him, Franco had clubbed the cashier with his own pistol and was climbing over the counter to get to the register, still screaming threats as he fought with the cash drawer.  The coupled shrieked when they saw the cashier drop, and Al swung his pistol back over to them.  "Quiet!  Just...just be quiet!"

 

" _Se_ _il vous plaît calmer, personne ici ne doit être blessé. Laisser l'arme et nous pouvons tous aller heureux_."  Al nearly screamed when the voice came from behind him, and he spun around to see a young woman before him.  Where the hell had she come from?  The bell over the door had not rung, and there had been nobody else in the store before, and--no, it did not matter where she came from.  "Get down!" he shouted at her, waving his gun, "Don't make me do anything, just get down!"  She stared at him calmly, her eyes tracking the motion of the gun and shifting ever-so-slightly each time it actually pointed at her to stay out of the direct line, and Al found himself perversely noting just how green her eyes were.  Now?  At a time like _this_ he was noticing her eyes?  " _Se il vous plaît baisser son_ _arme_."

 

"Wha...?  We're not in goddamn Quebec, speak English!  No, no don't speak English, just sit down and shut up!"  His voice was becoming as frantic as Franco's had been, who was practically ranting now as he hammered at the cash register to get it open.  They _knew_ how to open it already, that was the whole point of why they had come here, why was he having so much trouble?

 

The green-eyed woman was still staring at him calmly and said, slowly as if she was not expertly familiar with English, "Put the gun down.  Please.  No one gets hurt."

 

"Look, just sit down, _right now_ , or," Al never got to finish the 'or', as something flew past his head, buzzing the air with its speed and accompanied by a high-pitched mechanical whine. It wrapped around Franco's arm and pulled him forward, flipping right over the counter and screaming as the gun tumbled from his hand.  "What th--" He never got to finish the question, either, as the green-eyed woman in front of him darted forward, knocked his gun hand aside, grabbed the front of his shirt with her gloved hand and---the arcing electricity sent every muscle he had spasming at once and he opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a rushed exhale as he crumpled to the floor and gasped.  His eyes had trouble focusing, and he could barely make sense of what he was seeing, but the green-eyed woman was leaning over him as if inspecting him.

 

She stood up and called over her shoulder, "一切都還好嗎?" and from the other side of the store came the response of "沒問題。".  Then another woman stepped into his eye line from where he lay on the floor, and he again wondered at how at a time like this his mind could focus on her startlingly blue eyes.  Blue and green.  It was like being knocked down by the ocean.

 

"Are you okay?"  The green-eyed woman had knelt down beside the couple Al had been standing over and was reaching out gently to offer comfort, while the blue-eyed woman had walked over to the counter and was now out his view as she knelt next to the cashier that Franco had hit.  Had her hands been glowing before she walked out of his sight?  No, that was probably just a trick of his mind before he lost consciousness, and speaking of which that sounded like a very good idea, so he closed his eyes as the TV news continued uninterrupted.

 

"... _we have here a video of their rooftop jump from a new angle, which was just turned over to the studio this morning.  Elizabeth Vasquez, who had been in Montreal for vacation, captured this recording on her cell phone from further up the street than the crowds immediately beneath the building.  As you can see, from this angle we have a much better view of the fall itself and how they travel down the road..._ "

 

* * *

 

 

"Are you okay?" The voice was calm and quiet, soothing, so Samuel and Christine slowly opened their eyes.  A young women crouched in front of them, extending her hand, and behind her one of the gunmen lay unconscious.

 

"Wh....what happened?"  She had to try twice before her voice would work, but Christine managed to force the question out.

 

"No worry, danger over."  She spoke with a stilted accent, but her words were clear enough.  "Any hurt?"

 

"No, I think...I'm okay.  Sam?"  He had to fight to get his own words out, but he managed to croak "I'm fine."

 

"他被打很辛苦，但他應該沒問題," they both twitched at the unfamiliar language, but it come from another woman who was kneeling behind the counter, apparently tending to the cashier.  "我把小骨折護理，醫生可以處理其餘部分."

 

The woman in front of them nodded, then said "He be okay.  You call police?"

 

"Why can't you...yes, I'll call the cops," Sam slowly pulled his cell-phone out and, with shaking fingers, dialed 9-1-1.

 

"When police arrive, tell them--"

 

"Frankie, what's taking so long?  We need to **go** , I can't sit out front all night."  Another man had walked through the entrance (Christine's mind idly noticed that there had been no accompanying _ding_ when he opened the door) and stared at them with an expression that might have been funny if he had not also been carrying a gun.  He began to raise it, but what looked like a metal wire shot across the room and wrapped itself around his ankle, then it stretched taught and lifted him into the air and slammed him down against the floor.  However, whether through determination or because he had simply clenched all his muscled tightly as he was flipped, he held his grip on his gun.  He began to raise it again, and the woman in front of them seemed ready to dash forward, but before she could move there was an almost-inaudible hum and the man began to twitch and grunt, thrashing briefly before falling still and letting his fingers grow slack.

 

"好吧，我想我們可以稱之為一個成功的測試," said the woman who stepped forward, and the metal cable that been wrapped around the man's leg retracted into a...holster?...on her hip.  The woman immediately in front of them gave her a sidelong look, trying to suppress a grin, then turned back to them, who were now staring slack-jawed.  "When police arrive, tell them Korra and Asami do this.  We help.  Not enemy."  They nodded, not quite able to speak, until the shouting from the cell phone that Sam was still holding up to his ear grabbed their attention.  Suddenly remembering that they had called 9-1-1, Samuel returned to the phone and began giving the details on what had happened as the two women very quickly pulled the three men together, tied them together with a rope (A very shiny, very firm-seeming rope Christine thought) and began to walk out of the store.  Before they did, however, the shorter one rushed over to a shelf and grabbed what looked like a package of beef jerky, holding it up to the other.  There was a grudging nod, and then the taller one pulled a few bills out of her pocket and left them on the shelf next to where they had taken the package from.

 

"Goodbye" one of them said, and then they were gone after having both looked and waved at the security camera stuck in one corner.

 

A minute later there were the flashing lights and sirens as a police cruiser pulled up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the way through this chapter my web-page closed and re-opened, costing me most of what I had written for the back half. I tried to get it back, but...it's never as good the second time around.


	68. Chapter 68

"Herman, will you  _look_ at this?  Two weeks already and they're  **still** writing about that meshuggeh mess in Montreal.  Every article saying the same thing in a different way 'We don't know anything, but ask again tomorrow'.  You'd think there'd be some new news already."  Gladys was waving the paper, as if she could somehow shake the words off the page.

 

"Oy, Gladys, just put the paper down, eh?  You've been reading that verkakte news ever since it happened, if you just stop paying your mind they'd stop writing about it."  Herman spoke in a long-suffering tone, having had the same argument every day for the past week, and did not even look up from the iPad he held in his lap.  Benjamin had gotten it for him a month ago and he was finally starting to get the hang of it. _  
_

 

"Just you wait, when you stop watching,  _that's_ when something happens!  Oh, but whaddayou care, you've got your head buried in those Fighting Turkeys, I could vanish tomorrow and you wouldn't even notice!"  She was gesticulating even more wildly now, almost toppling over her own chair.  "It's this 'no news at all' bit that's the problem.  They've  _got_ to find an answer, and if they  _don't_ find and answer, well...that's when they start  _making_ answers!  And who do you think they're going to point to?"

 

Herman finally put down the iPad and sighed; when it got to this point she was usually really starting up.  "Gladys, mayn alte, who'd ever want to point at you?  Two girls being chased around Montreal is not going to lead to anything.  What did those videos on the news show, eh?  Barely more than children!  Did they look like troublemakers?  They probably just got mixed up with some hoodlum boys, it'll all be straightened out sooner or later."  He sighed again and looked out across the street; sitting on their porch they could always watch the foot traffic going either way, and at his age he enjoyed the people-watching, even (Maybe especially) the female people-watching.  Right now there were two women walking down the opposite side of the street window shopping, peering into the occasional store as he looked them over.  It was their necklaces which caught his eye; he might have been getting old, but his eyes were still  _sharp,_ and after so long in the metalworks in his youth he could appreciate fine craftsmanship; they had a matching set, what looked like finely-worked silver or steel looped and whirled together.  No machine-press on them, he'd have staked his life that they were hand-molded.  Where would you get work like that done now-a-days?  The rest of their getup, on the other hand, was shabby.  The taller one was impeccably made up (Probably planning for a date tonight, she must have gone to the salon earlier in the day for that kind of hair), but she was wearing what looked like an old fur that had seen better days, torn and stained, probably all that she had gotten passed down from her grandmother.  Her friend, the shorter one...she looked mixed.  Herman was not one to judge, of course, he had friends of all sorts, but it was obvious just by looking at her.

 

"That's what they always say!  'Don't worry', 'It doesn't mean anything', just you wait, you'll see, in a  _month_ it'll be--"  Gladys was still going and Herman did his best just to tune her out; she would wind down in an hour or two, and by dinner tonight she would move on to something else.  Tomorrow they would get to do it all over again.

 

There was an interruption this time, however, as Gladys was halted by a sudden, loud  _boom_ from down the block.  Twisting in their chairs, they both leaned forward to see one of those giant cars --not a full truck, but somewhere in between-- rock to a halt on its back after it had been speared right in its side by a smaller one that must have being  _flying_ through the intersection.  Tsk, this kind of thing happened way too often, that intersection had an accident almost every month it seemed like, why did the government not do something about that?  Slowly tottering to his feet, Herman began to take unsteady steps down to the road.

 

"Quick, Gladys, go inside and call the police.  I'm going to go see if I can help."

 

"What?  No!  You'll get yourself killed getting mixed up in that, stay inside!"

 

"I'm just going to go  _see_ , make sure everybody's okay!"  He finally reached the bottom step and started shuffling down the sidewalk.  "Call the police!"  The women he had seen across the street clearly did not feel any hesitation, they were dashing towards the collision, which was already surrounded by a small crowd lookers. They did not seem content to stand on the edge, either, and were quickly elbowing their way towards the center.  What happened next he could not see, blocked by the press of people, but there was the distinct sound of tearing metal and a collective gasp from the onlookers, who seemed to be stepping away from the scene and jabbering to each other excitedly.  By the time he reached the crash itself the crowd had spread out far enough that he could see what was happening, and observed that it looked like the passenger door of the large not-a-truck had been knocked completely off by the collision and....no, it was the  _driver's_ door that had been knocked off, even though it had been hit on the passenger's side.  The door lay on the ground a few feet away from the body of the vehicle, and who Herman presumed to be the driver was stretched out on the ground next to the two kneeling women.  His head was resting on a pillow of some sort--Herman noted that the taller woman was not wearing the old fur coat that he had seen before--and the mixed girl seemed to be rubbing his neck.

 

"Hey, stop that!" He shouted as he limped forward, "Don't...don't  _play_ with his head, wait for the ambulance!"  They both looked up at him when he spoke, but she did not stop whatever she was doing.  "Look, you're going to hurt him, just let him alone!" The taller one stood up and stepped towards him, raising her hands in a placating gesture, and spoke in accented English.  She clearly was not fluent, but she knew enough.

 

"Don't worry, we know healing.  We won't hurt the neck."  She said it calmly, and as she spoke it looked like the man on the ground was taking deeper, steadier breaths.  "Come, help me with the other," and she walked over to the car that had run the red light and slammed into the not-a-truck.  Its driver was moving feebly in the seat, but had not gotten out of the car yet.  Distantly, they could hear the sound of an ambulance approaching.

 

"Hey, can you hear me?"  Herman rapped his knuckles on the window, "Are you okay?"  The head inside slowly nodded, and after a few moments the window slowly rolled down.  "Are you okay?"

 

"I, I think....what?"

 

"An ambulance is on the way, just stay still.  Don't try to move."  There was only a vague nod in response and Herman backed away.  Probably a concussion, best to wait for a doctor.  The woman next to him, however, had other ideas, and stepped forward to open the door.  "Are you a doctor?  Is that it?"

 

"No, not a doctor, but we know healing."  The mixed woman that had stayed on the ground and kept working with the other driver's neck had stepped up as well, and now she reached into the car to begin feeling this driver's head.  Herman was about to interrupt--'healing' or no he knew you do not mess around with somebody's skull who might have a concussion--but the driver' expression slowly shifted from confusion to calmness, and then dropped into what looked like a light, peaceful sleep.  "Don't worry, I won't hurt his head.  I'm helping to heal."

 

Just then the ambulance pulled to a halt at the ring of onlookers, and they scattered to let the medical staff through.  Herman stepped away to let them work, glad to see the two women step back as well, and stayed nearby in case there was anything he could do to help.

 

"Has somebody been assisting these people?" One of the technicians asked, and the two women stepped forward again.

 

"We helped with injuries, their neck and head hurt."  The mixed one was doing the talking now, gesturing vaguely.  "Small hurting...uh...minor wounds."  She was clearly struggling to convey exactly what she meant, but she did not have the precise vocabulary.

 

"Bad English, is it?  Well, we can get a translator for you later, I'm going to have to ask you to come with us so we can verify what you've been doing with them."  As the technician spoke the others from the ambulance had been steadily working to get both driver's braced and ready for transportation to the hospital."

 

"Sorry, we not go with you."

 

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble, the doctors will just want to know your first impressions treatment so they know where to take off."  Distantly, other sirens (Police, Herman thought) were approaching, and the two women were silently edging away from the scene, trying to blend into the crowd.  The crowd, however, did not seem to want to cooperate, as they were still jabbering at one another and pointing between the door that had been removed from the not-a-truck and the two women.  "Hey, just wait here, we'll get it all straightened out," and the technician turned away from them to oversea the other personnel from the ambulance.

 

"Ladies, wait already, why go rushing off?"  Herman truddled over to them.  "Five minutes it'll take and then we'll be all set.  Whoof, what a day, nu?  This is happening all the time at this intersection, I've been saying for years they need to put a bump in the road or _something_ to slow down the drivers, so many just miss the light and drive right through.  Almost makes me glad I never got my license, so much craziness.  Say, what's with everybody?  You'd think they never saw a crash before, what's with all the pointing?"  Many members of the crowd had taken out their cell-phones and were taking pictures of the not-a-truck and the door and the women as if it was the first wreck they had ever seen.  "Anyway, forget them, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure.  Herman, Herman Oaker, you're not from town, are you?  I think I'd recognize such beautiful young women, you're visiting, eh?  Wherefrom?  Forget wherefrom, that's the past.  Are you seeing anybody?  My grandson, Benjamin, a _great_ kid, he's available and I'd be happy to introduce you.  He got me one of these iPads a few weeks ago, taught me how to play Angry Birds, he's a whiz.  You ever play Angry Birds?  I remember when they were first bringing in home video and now we've got these games I can carry around.  What a time, eh?  Forget Angry Birds, I was saying about Benjamin, bright boy, he lives just a mile from here and I could give you his number, or even call him over now.  You'd love him.  Eh, _still_ with the pointing?  It's a broken door, that happens in a crash like this, you'd think they saw a celebrity or something.  Mind your own business, why don't you!  Can't you see we're having a conversation?  Bunch a yutzes, the lot of 'em.  Forget the yutzes, where was I?  Right, my grandson...eh, where'd you go?"

 

When Herman turned back from the crowd, which still seemed unnaturally fixated, the two women were not where they had been.  Just as the police were pulling up on the other side of the collision he kept turning until he caught sight of them running towards Johnson's Drugs on the edge of the corner, where the taller one seemed to lean down to grab hold of the mixed girl and....Herman wondered if maybe his sight was going after all, as they seemed to leap straight to the top of Johnsons Drugs.  Before they turned and ran towards the back they seemed to notice him watching them and waved cheerily, shouting "Goodbye Herman!" before vanishing.


	69. Chapter 69

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the One Month Anniversary of when I first put this fic up on here. My unbounded thanks and love to everybody who's been reading, everybody who has left comments, and everybody who let this story come alive for the briefest instant in their mind.
> 
> You're all wonderful!

"I'm telling you, Krysta, it's like a movie.  He's been tracking them ever since they escaped Montreal and they've been roaming the countryside, fighting crime and rescuing people from danger!" As the line slowly inched towards the club entrance, Cheryl was expounding energetically.

 

"'Tracking them'?  The guy runs a blog, all he does is copy posts from  _other_ blogs and make up connections.  Didn't he have you believing they had located Bigfoot last month?"

 

"What?  No, of course not.....his brother runs the page on cryptids.  But this isn't just internet rumor-mongering, there's videos and photo evidence and witness testimonies!"

 

"Photo evi---Cheryl, it was a picture of a car door lying on the ground with the caption 'THE TRUTH!'  It was a car crash, there's nothing that shocking about it, nobody's got telekinesis." Krysta had a professionally bored expression, but she had to struggle to maintain it; even as she disagreed, Cheryl's energy was infectious.

 

"And what about that robbery, huh?  Can you argue with the security camera?  The government probably thinks they're...I dunno, spies or something, but they're just out doing good!  Like Spiderman!"

 

" _Spiderman_?  Seriously?"

 

"Yeah, he's always being mistrusted, always getting blamed for everything, always got the cops or J. Jonah Jameson running after him, but he doesn't let that stop him from helping where he's needed."  At that, Cheryl paused and posed, arms flung out in web-slinging positions.  "Not only that, but...oh, hey Zeke."

 

"Hey Cheryl.  Krysta.  Weren't you two just here last night?"  Zeke the bouncer did not even bother checking their identification, they had been here so often he could practically rattle off their vital statistics from memory (And he almost never carded the good-looking women, anyway).  Holding out his stamp, he marked both of their wrists.

 

"Yeah, but band playing tonight has been getting  _great_ buzz, they say they're the next big thing."

 

"If you say so, it all sounds like screaming to me."

 

"Zeke, you work at a  _rock club_ , how do you hate this stuff?"

 

"I gotta pay the bills somehow.  Let me play you some Tatum sometime, once you get his jazz in your ears you'll understand."

 

"Next week, Zeke.  Next week."  Giggling, Krysta and Cheryl walked down the dank steps (As much as they loved this place, did the entrance  _need_ to be so funky?) and slid through the door, merging into the crowd milling about inside.  Canned music was rolling over the loudspeakers ("Wolfmother," Krysta said, and Cheryl nodded in agreement) and hands were onstage getting all of the equipment set up.

 

"Anyway, like I was saying, it all holds together.  The cops were after them in the city, they busted out, and now they're wild and case-by-case do-gooders.  The big news stations aren't picking it up because the government's suppressing it all, but the guys on the web have their eyes open, so they can piece together all these separate little bits for the full picture."

 

"Oh My God Cheryl, let it go," Krysta was laughing now, unable to maintain her stern disapproval, "I give.  I yield.  There is totally a pair of kickass lady superheroes driving across Canada rescuing people from car crashes and tazing thugs."

 

"There, was that so hard?"

 

"Yes, yes it absolutely was.  Here, hold my bag, I'm going to pop off for a second," and still laughing, Krysta began to meander towards the bathroom.  Cheryl looked around at the crowd, then made her way towards the semi-secluded back section.  It was not exactly a 'secret' section of the club, but behind a line of structural pillars there was a wall couch and table.  It was out of view of the entrance and main dance area, so most people had to have been to the club before to realize it was there, and it was a way to have a semblance of privacy while still getting the energy of  _being there_ that was half the reason you came to a live show.  As she walked in she saw that there were already some people back there, not regulars, but she had bumped into them the night before, exchanging brief pleasantries as the crowd queued up to leave at the end of the show.  Corry, she thought for the shorter one, and drew a complete blank on the other's name.  Something foreign.  They were curled up together on the couch and Cheryl paused awkwardly; this was a public area of the club and they were not even regulars to take up the entire section, but she also did not want to burst in on their intimacy.  She was about to back away when Corry noticed her and waved invitingly.

 

"Please, come in, we are not using the entire couch."  She had an accent that Cheryl could not place, but she spoke with ease.

 

"Thanks.  I, uh, haven't seen you two here a lot before, you new in town?"

 

"Yes, just passing through.  We heard the music last night, very good."

 

"Yeah, they've got the best upcomers here, me and Krysta--she's in the bathroom by the way--come by usually once a week to check out who's performing, see if there's anybody who's really gonna make it.  You two in the scene?"

 

"In the....scene?"  The other one, whose name Cheryl could not recall, leaned forward.

 

"Yeah, you know, listening to the bands, maybe playing a little, tracking down what's-what.  Most people don't feel comfortable cuddling up in the back of the club if they're just poking their noses in."

 

"No, not...'in the scene'.  We first heard this music a month ago, but it is very good, a friend played it in a band.  We can feel the energy, very different from what we used to know."

 

"Ah, newbies, is it?  Well, let it never be said we're an unwelcoming lot."  The two looked...'good' was the first word that came to mind, almost painfully fashionable, like they had stepped together out of a  magazine.  Matching jewelry, an eye-catching necklace set, and Corry wore some kind of fur vest that probably cost a small fortune, the epitome of natural beauty that only came from an hour in front of the mirror. The other one was wearing a leather racing coat, one of those short affairs racers seemed to love and, and was so impeccably coiffed as to look like she expected to be photographed at any second.  Still, they were sitting here, in the same darkened club as she was, waiting for the next underground band to come on stage.  "It's the Clash at Demonhead tonight, and they've got a sound like...hey, do you smell that?"  There had been a faint acrid odor in the air for a while, but Cheryl had been ignoring it since it would have been odd for something  _not_ to have been burning at a show like this.  Now, however, there was shouting coming from the front of the club and the smell was growing stronger and...."holy crap, is that a fire?"

 

She lurched to her feet and looked at the stage, but they were still setting up and there were no pyrotechnics set up, so what was...the smoke was leaking in from the front entrance and Cheryl's blood cooled to ice almost instantly.  She had heard about nightclub fires, there had been that massive one in Brazil just last year, and if the fire was actually set at the exit itself.... "Oh, god, how do we get out?"  Already people were screaming and running about in a craze, and she thought she saw Krysta actually get knocked to the ground coming out of the bathroom entrance.

 

"Stay calm," Corry said, and stepped up beside her, "We will be okay.  Asami!  哪裡是結構牢固?"

 

"就在這裡，因為這些支柱."  The other woman said, and pointed above them.  "Cheryl, you come here a lot, correct?  Are there any people above where we are standing?"

 

"Wha....no, no, I don't think so, there's nothing above the club."

 

"Okay, that is good.  Please stand back," and Asami gently grabbed Cheryl's elbow and guided her a few steps backwards past the pillars.  Where they had been standing Corry looked around, then she seemed to wave her arms and...Cheryl shrieked as the floor in front of her was torn up and what looked like a pillar of stone shot up from the ground.  It rammed into the roof and tore its way through, then retracted, and there were stars visible in the night sky.  A cool breeze came down--it was starting to grow cold now as fall edged towards winter--and then another pillar of stone erupted from the same hole, shaping itself into what looked like a staircase leading up to the roof.  Corry dashed up this new staircase onto the roof, and muffled by the walls Cheryl could hear more stone grinding and slamming together outside.  The Corry was back inside, waving her arms again, and the breeze coming in strengthened and steadied, until it was blowing strongly from the hole towards the front of the club--pushing back the smoke she realized.

 

"EVERYBODY!  EVERYBODY COME BACK HERE!   THERE IS AN EXIT BACK HERE!  NO SMOKE BACK HERE!"  The taller woman (Had Corry called her 'Asami'?) was shouting into the club and waving her arms, and with a jolt Cheryl realized that if the front entrance was blocked by the smoke and fire, this was the only way out for everybody in the club.  She tried to call out herself, but she could not make her voice work after the shock of what she had seen.

 

"There is a way out in the back!  It is safe in back!  Come back!"  Now Corry was shouting as well, and her voice was louder than anything Cheryl had heard that was not coming out of a microphone, but she barely seemed to be straining herself.

 

Some of the nearby people stumbled over and hesitantly crawled up the steps, but most of the club was still crushing forwards to the smoky front entrance, too panicked to come back to safety.  Seeing that, Corry sighed, and seemed to growl in frustration.  Then, to Cheryl's surprise, she actually started to laugh to herself and said something to Asami, who started to laugh in turn, and then Corry dashed forward into the crowd itself--No, she did not dash  _into_ the crowd, she dashed  _over_ the crowd, leaping above their heads as if she was...no, she  _was_ flying, or close to it.  As she leapt, the wind seemed to follow her, clearing out the smoke so that the people could breathe and see where they were.  "Go to the back!" she kept shouting, and slowly the crowd started to shuffle to the new staircase, where Asami was waiting to guide them up and out.

 

Cheryl finally managed to spur herself to motion, and she dashed not up the staircase, but into the crowds towards the bathroom, where she thought she had seen Krysta get knocked down.  She found her huddled on the ground, almost fetal, shaking her head to clear it, and she grabbed her under the arm to pull her to her feet.  "Krysta, we have to go, come on" she urged, and together they hobbled towards the escape, clambering up the mysterious new stone walkway.  Outside, in the clear night air, the crowd was flowing towards the edge of the building where there was another stairway, wide and sloping, leading down to the street.

 

"Wha....how?"  Krysta was staring about in shock, but Cheryl did not have any explanation she could offer.

 

"Just keep walking, we'll be down in a second," and shortly afterwards they were down on the street.  People were still trickling off the roof, and smoke was billowing out of the entrance, as fire trucks were just now beginning to trumpet their arrival.   Cheryl could now see the flames themselves, yellow tongues licking their way up the stairway in front of the entrance, and she drew back in horror.  There must have still been dozens of people inside, already disoriented before the smoke started to clear or trampled on the ground, and she shivered at what must be happening.  Then she shivered different as the flames, instead of continuing to spread, suddenly flared brighter and then vanished.  Completely.  As if they had simply been turned off they disappeared, and then the door opened and a mad crush of people surged out, joining the ones who had already escaped from the unexplained back exit.

 

As she stared in shock, still wondering what had happened, Cheryl noticed two figures atop the building, calmly observing the growing crowd instead of rushing to the stone stairway.  They waited up there, observing and helping down those who seemed to be having trouble, until the fire trucks began to arrive in front.  Once they saw the bright flashing lights pull up they stood together, seemingly embracing, and then they leapt directly off the roof to the building next door, and from there down to the street into an alley hidden from view.  A few minutes later, out of the alley roared a motorcycle which turned onto the street and sped into the night.

 

Cheryl could only stare after it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a bit of "Deleted Scenes" info, there was originally going to be a police drug raid on the club, and Krysta's bag was going to have ecstasy in it and Cheryl would freak out when she realized what was going on and yadda yadda yadda, but there's only so much human activity K&A can thwart. I figured, why not have it be a different kind of rescue event this time?
> 
> Also, cookie for whoever catches the hidden reference here (No, no cookie for recognizing Spiderman).


	70. Chapter 70

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Korra asked as they sat on the side of the road, Asami seemingly caressing their motorcycle's front tire.

 

"No, I got it, it's just....Ah!"  With a yank, Asami pulled out of the rubber a tiny metal...thing...that looked like some sort of weapon, spiky and pointed and leaving behind many leaking holes in the tire's surface.  "Here's the problem, we probably picked this up a few miles back."  She turned it over in her hands, marveling at what its intended use could possibly be.  Lightly, she tossed it to Korra, who looked it over as well.

 

"What is it?"  There were six points sticking out and it looked absolutely vicious.  She could imagine what it might do if it had been shot out of a gun.

 

"I don't know, but it gave us a pretty bad puncture.  I can patch it, but I don't want to spend too much riding time on this tire after that, I think we'll need a replacement."  Asami was already pulling out the small repair kit they had for such emergencies, readying the patch application.

 

"Okay, we'll ride this into the next town and then get a new tire.....uh, do we have the cash for that?"  They had managed to stretch their money remarkably far considering the circumstances, but after a month on the road with no steady income and a few unexpected expenses (Not that Korra had dreamed of protesting Asami's new jacket, she had absolutely  _sparkled_ when she first saw it) their funds were growing wearingly thin.

 

"For the tire itself, probably.  For buying more gas afterwards....probably not."  She was focused as she spoke, tarring and laying the patch over the tire, but she could keep track of the figures at the same time easily.  "Feel like putting on another show?"

 

"I don't know, we're only a day out from our last stop, if they've been tracking us like we know they can they're going to be close enough to catch up."  Asami had been right a month ago, hiding themselves had not been the way to go, and it had felt so refreshing over the past few weeks to not try and keep themselves buried away, but they still did not want to actively draw attention to themselves when their pursuers might already be very close.

 

"Hmmm...good point.  Well, we can deal with that once we've found a tire shop or garage to get this fixed, I'm sure there's something we can do for money.  We're getting close to ...what was the name again?...right, Vancouver, and I'm sure we'll be able to find an opportunity."  She was just finishing the patch as she spoke, and stepped away to let it settle.    As they waited, she slid over to where Korra was sitting and the two of them turned to look out at the snow peaked mountains that rose up around them.  She wrapped her arm over Korra's shoulder and pulled her in close, sharing their warmth against the chilly air, and they let their minds wander.  At times like this, when it was just the two of them on a lonely road, it was easy to imagine that there was nothing strange or unknown in the world, that the two of them were just staring at the mountains of the Earth Kingdom somewhere.  The rocks were still the same, as was the sky behind them, it was just the people that lived there that were different. And...were they so different?  It was just their customs that set them apart from the people Korra and Asami had known, and even those were becoming familiar over time.  If they never found their way home, if they were stuck here forever, would there come a time when these people would be 'normal'?  And if there was, would that be a bad thing?

 

Now, just gazing at the open land in front of them and the clear air, this world did not seem that unusual at all.

 

"That should do it, let me get a quick check and we can ride into town."  The break had only lasted a few minutes before Asami returned to the tire, but as was always the case, that brief pause had helped center everything.  Korra re-inflated the tire to replace the already-escaped air and Asami checked the patch to make sure the leak had stopped, and then they began to collect their tools and re-pack to resume their journey.  As they worked, however, they both raised their heads at the distant sound of another engine approaching. As it got closer they picked out the distinct sound of two engines, then three, then four, and then it was all lost in an indistinct roar as nearly a dozen motorcycles roared down the road.  One of them seemed to catch sight of them on the roadside, and with a wave the whole group slowed to a stop.  At that sight, Korra and Asami both stood and stepped away from their bike, Korra picking up her glider staff and Asami pulling on her glove and sliding in one of the battery packs.  They had encountered many motorcycle enthusiasts over the past month, most of whom had been perfectly friendly and personable, and their shared interest had given them a great point of conversation, but the last time an entire swarm had abruptly stopped along the side of the road was when they were first approaching Montreal, and with what had happened then....  Korra checked to make sure that her cables were properly charged and cleared on her waist, and Asami dangled one of her new bolas from her off-hand.

 

As their leader approached, he pulled off his helmet and smiled broadly.  "Good afternoon ladies, having some trouble?"

 

"No," Asami said, "No trouble."

 

"Uh...you've got a repair kit open on the side of the road, are you sure everything's okay?"

 

Asai's gaze flicked to the still-scattered patch supplies and back to the speaker, who had been joined by several of the other riders now, chatting amongst themselves.  "Yes, we are fine, I have patched the leak and we are going to ride into town for a replacement."

 

"Are you heading to Squamish?  Closest place around here with a tire shop, it's just a few miles down the mountain.  We'd be happy to ride with you to make sure you get there, it's on our way."  His tone was guarded now, he must have sensed Asami's wariness, but his voice held none of the malevolence that had been present in the other group of bikers they had encountered.  The others who had stopped were also stretching and talking at ease, like people who just been interrupted during a relaxing weekend ride.  "Or....If you two would rather be alone we can just keep on going."

 

Korra and Asami glanced at one another and relaxed, but only slightly.  These people did not have the air of thugs about them, and probably were just courteous passersby offering a helping hand.  Still, Korra did not turn her back to them as Asami pulled off her glove and resumed collecting their supplies.  "Thank you, that is very kind.  Let us have a moment to collect our things and we will ride with you two Squamish."  The man who had been speaking gave them a confused nod, then turned back to his fellows and they talked amongst themselves as Asami finished packing up.  A few minutes later, the entire crowd was again roaring down the roadway towards the base of the mountain, with Korra and Asami cautiously riding in tow.

 

The bike itself ran perfectly fine, and likely could have carried them a lot farther if they had wanted to push it, but Asami thought it best not to chance it.  At a sign advertising the "Ok Tire Store" she pulled off the road, and the rest of the motorcycles that had been with them continued through town, several of them waving jauntily before vanishing from sight.  Together, Korra and Asami had their bike set off to the side and were about to go inside and hope that they could find a proper replacement.

 

"Korra?  Asami?  Is that you?"

 

The question was hesitant, tentative, like the asker was not only unsure of the answer, but unsure if it should even have been asked in the first place.  They both turned to find two women facing them on the nearby sidewalk, one of them staring at them with an expression that mixed incredulity with fear and hope.  The other woman was completely unknown, but the one whose face showed such surprise seemed vaguely familiar, as if they might have met her once long ago.  Somebody from home?  No, she had spoken to them in English, and it was not that kind of familiarity.  Her hair was long and arranged in a style similar to that which Korra herself used to bear, gathered into two wolftails on the side, and she wore what they had come to recognize was casual civilian garb in this place, the pants that were called "jeans" and a loose blouse.  Her bearing, however, was ramrod straight and she held herself almost painfully erect, like a soldier standing at attention, and.....

 

That thought was what made Korra recognize her despite the different hair and clothing, and her own voice was shocked as well as she asked "Joo Dee?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, she just popped right out of nowhere, didn't she?
> 
>  
> 
> For those who are still tracing K&A's cross-country road trip, right now they are passing through the North Shore Mountains in British Columbia. I also figured I couldn't let the only bikers to show up be a bunch of rats, so we get a helpful group who just pass on by.


	71. Chapter 71

At Korra's question, Asami's first thought was to glance around for the pursuers. If Joo Dee had identified them and was lying in wait, where were the soldiers to take them into custody? The police cordon to prevent their escape? The cameras to track their movements? Surrounding them on all sides was...nothing. Some light foot traffic, cars slowly passing back and forth on the road, and just now fading from hearing was the last deep rumble of the motorcycles that had just left them. Nobody was paying too close attention, nobody was brandishing any strange weapon, there seemed to be no attempted apprehension at all. Even as she brought her eyes back to Joo Dee, Asami noticed that she still bore the same mixed expression of hope and fear and seemed to lean back on her heels, as if preparing for flight. It was not the look of a soldier readying an ambush.

 

"Are you all right?" Korra asked, and Asami noted that she had never taken her eyes off of Joo Dee for an instant, not even to look around for danger. Her first instinct was to make sure that Joo Dee had recovered from the state that they had last seen her in, without even a thought for what her presence might mean. Asami could not stop a small smile from forming; Korra's thoughts were always for somebody other than herself. Korra took a brief step forward and extended an arm, but lowered it when Joo Dee stepped back at the same time and recoiled. "What are you doing here?"

 

"What am...what am **I** doing here? Here? What are...what are _you_ doing here, and...and..." Her words ran down and she started to breathe heavily, almost panting, and the woman that stood beside her stepped over, wrapping her in a hug. She whispered something into Joo Dee's ear, too soft for either Korra or Asami to hear, and then looked over at the two of them. "Are these them?" Her words were soft, but neither Korra or Asami could have given explanation to everything they seemed to contain, and her eyes were shining. Joo Dee tried to speak, but nothing came out, and she just gave a jerky nod. The woman held her for a minute, as Korra and Asami stood there in confusion unsure of what to say, until Joo Dee's breathing steadied into even calmness.  The woman then turned to Asami and Korra, and her knees seemed to buckle briefly, as if she was about to drop to the ground, but she seemed to hesitate and then catch herself, and she instead bowed at the waist with her arms spread open.  She said something, but it was not either English or French and they could not understand; whatever language it was, however, was familiar, like a song whose lyrics you can _almost_ sing along with.  Her words were not the only things about her that were familiar; she had warm, dark skin and deep blue eyes, and Asami's nearly gasped at the recognition.  She and Korra could have been sisters.  Was this another person that had been sent to this world?  Another member of the Water Tribe?

 

"I'm sorry," Korra said, "We don't understand you.  Do you speak English?  _Parlez-vous français_?"  She paused for a moment, then said hopefully in her and Asami's own language, "Can you understand these words?"

 

The woman kept her head bowed, and then spoke in English.  "I...yes, I speak English.  I am honored to be in your presence.  Judy has told me much of what happened, of what you showed her, and...oh, crap, I can't hold this pose, can I stand--oh crap, I'm sorry I said 'crap' and...I said it again, didn't I?  Shit.....can I stand up?"

 

Korra and Asami could only look at each other in confusion before Korra said "Yes, please stand up."  She slowly straightened and relaxed her arms, but her eyes were still shining.  It was like Joo Dee's own look, but without the horror or the questions, just the adoration, but tempered....like it was at a remove.  "Who are you?" Korra asked.

 

Joo Dee stepped forward, and her voice was far from calm, but at least it was under control.  "Korra, Asami, this is Tapeesa, she's a....friend.  Tapeesa, these are..." Her breathing sped up again and she began to shiver, but she closed her eyes and after a moment her calmness returned, "...this is Korra and Asami, they're.....what are you doing here?"

 

"We have a flat tire that we patched up on the mountain, we came here to buy a replacement," Asami pointed to the patched tire on the motorcycle and then waved at the tire shop they were standing in front of.  Whatever they had thought or expected, a flat tire was certainly not part of it, as the two of them stared at Asami and the motorcycle as if she was speaking her own incomprehensible language.  "We are just passing through town on the way to Vancouver, some motorcyclists we met on the road guided us here."  They seemed even more confused now, and Joo Dee closed her eyes and began to shake her head, as if fighting an internal argument.  "But that doesn't matter now.  We are very happy to see you again and would like to know that you are better.  Shall we...shall we get something to eat?  There is a diner across the street and we have not had anything since breakfast."  Joo Dee did not say anything, but her friend (Tapeesa.  Almost a Water Tribe name, Asami reflected) nodded and took her elbow to guide her across the street to the restaurant.  Soon they were seated across from each other in a padded booth, and the cool glass of water in her hands seemed to bring Joo Dee back to herself.

 

"What has happened to you?" Korra asked as they waited for their food, "What did you endure after Huan called for the rescue?"

 

Joo Dee initially seemed confused at the question, but then she nodded and began.  "I was brought to CFB Bagotville, it's....it doesn't matter where it is, I was delusional for days, they said.  Trauma and emotional shock from everything that had happened.  From my...abuse...at your hands, they said.  They did their best in my rehab, physical and mental.  Got me moving again, got me thinking again.  They spent a month trying to pin down what had happened, track back everything, but nothing made sense, none of what'd you done made any....it looked like I was involved.  You realize that, right?  You escape from a plane flying miles high in the air, you must have had inside help, been smuggled a bomb to blow open the hull and a parachute to survive the fall.  And with me going out of the plane with you and surviving, with you actually signaling for help when I was...like that...I was the obvious suspect.  I didn't.....I don't....I'm being nominated for the Medal of Bravery, did you know?  I'll be 'Judith Moon, MB'.  The paperwork's being run through now and I'm guaranteed the medal they say, but I'm on the beach.  Inactive duty.  'Recovery' they say, but...they think I'm involved, but they can't prove it, so they shunt me aside and hope to forget about me, and they can't ignore that I _fell out of an airplane_ , so they throw the medal at me and hope....and hope..." Her voice was rising now, coming fast and pitched, and some of the other diner patrons were turning around to see what was going on.  "Please, you have to tell me, what was it?  Everything that happened, what you showed me.... _what was it_?  Please...oh god, I need to know.  For me, for my own sanity, I need to know.  What are you?"  She had reached a shouted crescendo and fallen back, and the last question came out as barely more than a whisper.  Tapeesa leaned over and rested her head against her shoulder, trying to steady her, and closed her eyes as tears silently streamed down Joo Dee's face.

 

Korra and Asami stared at each silently in regret and horror.  This was what they had feared, what they had hoped to avoid by getting her out of the forest, but they realized that they had failed, because she was still _in_ the forest.  She was going to be there for the rest of her life, unless.....

 

Korra reached over and touched Joo Dee's hand which still clutched the glass of water.  Joo Dee recoiled from the contact and water splashed out of the glass, but did not slosh onto the table.  Instead it hovered above Korra's outstretched hand, and the rest of the glass was soon empty as the water formed a spinning disc over her open palm.  It spun faster and faster, until it was just a glowing blur, and Korra slowly leaned over the table.  Joo Dee and Tapeesa were both transfixed at the sight, frozen except for their ragged breaths, as Korra brought up her healing waterbending and laid her hand flat against Joo Dee's forehead.  They both gasped at the contact, Joo Dee from the cool sensation which rushed into her, and Korra from the burning fire which roared up her arm.  She held herself against Joo Dee, letting the water smother the flames, until finally she lowered her arm and Joo Dee collapsed against Tapeesa beside her.  Tears still streamed down her face, but lightly now, in relief instead of torment, and she again asked the question "What are you?"

 

When they had first arrived in this world and been taken to the military base at the North Pole they had tried to explain who they were and where they had come from, but they could not make themselves understood.  Even after they had been able to communicate with writing the meanings had been lost.  Once they had escaped and learned how to speak with the people of this world they had not tried to explain what had befallen them, they had tried to pass unobtrusively in this world under lies of omission and minor obfuscation.  But now, when they could finally communicate meaningfully and there was somebody who wanted, _needed_ , to know the truth....

 

Korra picked up her own glass of water and took a drink, then looked to Asami, who nodded.  "We have never lied to you.  My name is Korra, and this is Asami.  We come from a world that is very different from yours, and we do not know completely how we got here, but what we do know....  Let me start at the beginning, and where I believe you would wish me to start."  She put down her glass and again extended her hand, until she held it over the center of the table.  She looked around to make sure that they were not being directly observed (The other patrons had all turned back to their meals after Joo Dee had quieted down, and their waiter was nowhere to be seen), and then she turned her clenched fist over, opening her fingers and letting a spark of fire burst into being.

 

"I am the Avatar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably would have been a better point for the "Oh Snap!" image from the last chapter, wouldn't it? Well, hindsight is always 20-20 as they say. _C'est la vie!_
> 
> * * *
> 
> Back in Chapter 56 I asked for help with a bit of fanart, and several people responded willing to pitch in, but I hit a bit of stumbling block trying to follow up: There's no way to send a Private Message or auto-email on AO3. Whoops. I've tried to reach out through tumblr where possible, but I don't tumbl, so I'm only ~80% sure I got through. If you're still willing, let me know how we can move forward.


	72. Chapter 72

Joo Dee flinched back from the flame like she expected it to expand and swallow her up, while Tapeesa actually leaned in, with her eyes growing even wider.  Neither could tear their gaze away.

 

"This is 制火術...the technique of creating fire."  Korra cupped the small flame in her palm, letting it feed off of the warmth of her own body.

 

"How....how...."  Joo Dee could not finish the question, but it was obvious regardless.

 

"In the world we come from, the people have learned bending of the elements.  Water, earth, fire and air.  Bending is not magic, it is an ancient art unique to each culture, learned from the animals and world which surrounds us all.  The push and pull of the moon and ocean, the fire of the dragon and warmth of the sun, the burrowing badgermoles and flying bison.  The Lion Turtles, which could touch even the energy within ourselves."  Joo Dee was reaching out to the flame, and Korra let it vanish into nothingness the instant before her fingers would would have been burned.  "Ten thousand years ago, the Avatar cycle began, serving as the bridge between the Mortal World and the Spirit World, mastering all four elements and bringing balance to the world.  The cycle has continued, born into each nation in turn, trying to help the people live in harmony with each other and the spirits."

 

" _Angakkuq_ ," Tapeesa whispered in a hollow voice.

 

"Months ago, there was a...struggle...on our world.  Much fighting, much hardship and....and much loss."  Korra reached beside her and took Asami's hand, squeezing tightly and the resurgent memory of her father.  "Afterwards, we went on a vacation, just the two of us, because we needed peace and ease and....for other reasons together.  We went to the Spirit World, which is....you do not have a Spirit World here, not like we do.  It is not a place of certainty, it is of the mind and spirit, and beauty, and change, and....a friend of ours contacted us to pass along a message of what was happening in the Mortal World, and we decided to journey back to learn what was happening.  It was only going to be for a short while, just time enough to radio Tenzin and put my own mind at ease, but we wound up here.  There are connections between the two worlds, points of travel, and we had gone to the Northern Spirit Portal to make contact with the Northern Water Tribe, but instead we somehow ended up in your world.  We have heard of nothing like this before, there was no portal behind us afterwards, and we were stranded on your North Pole.  If your people had not found us, we would have frozen to death.  Thank you for that, again."

 

Asami leaned forward now, to pick up the tale.  "We do not know how or why it happened, but we have used your internet for research and your scientists detected many strange phenomena at the same time we were transported here.  We believe your government knows more than we do that they are keeping secret.  We are hoping to---"

 

"Excuse me, who had the chicken?"  All four of them jerked at the intrusion, and realized that their waiter was standing beside them, holding steaming plates of food to place down.  With the spell of the story broken they all leaned back in their seats to allow their dishes to be served, except for Joo Dee, who clawed her way out of the booth and dashed towards the restroom.  Tapeesa made as if to follow her, but paused while halfway standing and instead settled back down.  She followed Joo Dee with her eyes, a sad look having replaced the wonder she had born during Korra's recitation.

 

"You and Joo Dee are friends?" Asami asked, trying to draw out a little information of their own.

 

"Hmmmm?  Oh, yes and...yes, except....it's been a long time.  We grew up together, but I think the last time we actually spoke was when she called me on my birthday five or six years ago from somewhere she was stationed overseas.  Things were rough after she left home, rough between her parents and most of our friends, and once she enlisted I think she wanted to make it a complete separation.  I hung on longer than most of us, but even that....after enough time things just fall apart.  When she showed up at my door last month...."  Now she turned her sad eyes back to Korra and Asami, "What she's saying, what  _you're_ saying....is it true?  All of it?"

 

They did not know exactly what Joo Dee had been saying, but they understood what she asking.  "Yes," Korra said, "it's true."

 

"Oh....oh, god.  I thought...I don't know, Post-traumatic Stress or something, delusions from being lost in the woods.  She was almost raving when she first showed up, talking about these legends my grandma used to tell us when we were kids, but then she started showing me these things on-line, videos and pictures of you two and...I started to believe her, or believe  _something_ , and when we ran into you outside....are you  _tuurngait_?" _  
_

 

"I'm sorry," Asami said, "we do not know this English word ' _tuurngait_ '."

 

"No, it's not....they are the spirits of the world, and they can bring good or ill fortune, and manipulate the elements, or bond with humans."

 

"Bond with..." Korra and Asami looked at each other, and now it was Korra's turn to lean forward eagerly, "What do you know of this?"

 

"Just what my grandma and my parents taught me, but I never paid very close attention when I was a kid.  Why?"

 

"In our world...Raava, the spirit of Light and Peace, is what started the Avatar cycle.  I carry her within me, bound to my life and the lives of all Avatars before me and those who will come after.  I....I am  _tuurngait_."

 

The sound Tapeesa made might have been a laugh, or it might have been a cry, but then Joo Dee arrived back at the table on unsteady legs and fell into her seat.  Her face was damp, but her expression was steadier than it had been, and when she spoke her voice had almost the professional tone it had had before her collapse in the forest.  "You were saying?" she said to Asami.

 

"I was...yes, we still wish to return to our own world," Asami picked up right where she had left off when the waiter came with their food.  "Your land is fascinating, and there is much beauty here, but it is not our own, and our friends and families are back there.  We believe that your government knows what brought us here, or at least more than we do, and we have been hoping to discover what this knowledge is so that we can travel home, but we have also not known where to begin.  We have no wish to declare war on your people, to overturn your way of life, so we have not tried to challenge them directly, merely go our own way until a opportunity presents itself.  We are not your enemies, and never have been."

 

They were all silent after that, and turned to their meals (As much as they missed the familiar foods of home, Korra and Asami devoured their poutine with gusto, having fallen in love when they had been introduced to the delicious, heavy dish).  When they had finished eating, they all remained sitting, awkwardly unsure of what to say next.

 

"Come," Korra eventually said, "we have something for you."  Together, they all walked back over to the motorcycle they had left outside and Korra began to dig into one of the saddlebags.  "We have gotten much use out of this, in many situations, but we always planned to return it.  It was not ours to keep."  Finding what she was looking for, Korra pulled out the combat knife she had taken from Joo Dee soon after they had escaped from the airplane, and which she had bent and used all throughout their journeys in Canada.  Holding it out to Joo Dee, she repeated what Asami had said earlier.  "We are not your enemies, and never have been."

 

Joo Dee's stance had weakened again at the sight of the knife, and her arm was trembling as she reached out, but she closed her fingers around its hilt and held it when Korra released her grip.  She slowly drew it out of its sheath, eying the blade itself, and then turned her gaze back to Korra and Asami.  Stepping forward, Asami spoke that single word they had tried to use to open a dialogue so long ago in the woods.

 

"Friend".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I was thinking for the bit of fanart is an image to best encapsulate everything, how Korra and Asami look after they've sunk into our world and chosen what they will or won't take into themselves. I'm going to go into a bit of detail (What? Me going into an unnecessary amount of detail over unimportant things? Inconceivable!):
> 
> They should be on or near their motorcycle, which is a 2008 Harley-Davidson Road king. There's a reference image here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2008models/2008-Harley-Davidson-Touring-FLHRRoadKinga.jpg The only difference is that their bike has an additional seatback for Korra which this picture doesn't have.
> 
> Korra should be dressed in blue (Of course) and wearing that fur vest she's had for a while. Her hairstyle should be same simple bob cut she had in Book Four. I'm not sure if she should be holding her glider staff or if it should be sticking up in the bike's side holster, whatever you think is best. She should also have the hip-holsters for cables she wore when learning metalbending. Not a GREAT reference, but she's wearing them here: http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/776/776863.jpg
> 
> Asami shouldn't be wearing her Equalist glove, but it should be present (Hanging from her belt, maybe? On the ground next to them?), as should a few throwing ties similar to bolas (They haven't been in the story yet, but they'll make it in soon). Her hair should be...hmmmm....very Asami-ish, but I'd like a modern influence. Maybe an undercut on the sides, so we have the length but it's definitely different from her normal look? She should be in red and black (Of course) with a leather racing jacket, something simple like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YTB8nwEuL._SX300_.jpg
> 
> They should both be wearing the matching necklaces Korra made after the run-in with the bikers. They're similar to the metal necklaces the Beifongs all wore in Zaofu, thinner around their neck and expanding to hang down to a point over their chests, but instead of the solid metal plates those were made of these should be braids and chainlink, much more flexible. Group photo of all the Beifongs here: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c5/5b/9e/c55b9ec2958c7c0f75abce6bcdd34c9e.jpg
> 
> Both should, of course, be tough and beautiful; I'm not asking for anything either overly-sexualized or brutally violent, but to capture what the show captured: They are each a complex character that have amazing strengths and each embody different aspects of humanity and what we admire.


	73. Chapter 73

As Asami and Korra were in the tire store negotiating a replacement, and apparently not having an easy time of it given the view through the window, Judith and Tapeesa stood outside by their motorcycle, each holding a metal object.  Judith still stared at the combat knife that had been returned to her, turning it over in her hands.  The sheath and handle were hers, no doubt, and they fit into the palm of her hand like an old friend, comfortable and familiar.  The blade, however, shone almost like new, as if it had only been first held a few weeks ago.  It had none of the wear and tear or minor nicks and smudges from use.  According to what they had said, Korra and Asami had used their magic (Why was it called 'bending'?) to reshape the blade many times, always returning it to its original form afterwards.  Their efforts left it as fresh as when it had first been forged....and scrubbed of any residue of Judith herself.    Holding it in her hands now, despite the familiarity of its cover, it was as if she had never set it to work against wood or stone, it had none of the connection to all the hardships she had endured, the struggles she had overcome before she had ever been sent to Station Alert and first laid eyes on these two strange creatures.  It was the same knife, but she had been stripped away from it completely.

 

She slid the sheath into her pocket so that she could grip the knife in both hands, then settled its blade against the flat of her palm and felt the cold of the steel against her skin.  It was still steel, it still felt like any cold metal ever held against her skin, but she knew that it had been changed; torn apart and reshaped and reformed and transformed then put back together again by means she could not understand.  Still a knife, yes, but not what it once was.  Never able to again become what it had been before Korra and Asami had gotten it into their hands.  No longer **her** knife.  She was gone from its history, its existence, just like _that_.

 

She knew that by simply moving the blade three inches up from the where it rested against her palm she could remove herself as well.  Just like _that_.  Erased as surely as if she had been bent (Was that the term?) into a different body and then bent back.  If her touch on the world could be erased so quickly and easily, reset to zero by these women as simply as flipping a switch, then why not herself?  Just three inches along her arm, then a single lateral motion, and....

 

She had not even realized she had moved the knife until she felt the coolness pressing in on her wrist.  Until she felt the beginning of its bite, the first growl warning of the coming roar.  Until....

 

"Judy, I honestly can't tell you what I expected from the stories you told me, but I can tell you this: I never imagined a  _tuurngait_ would need to replace a flat tire after running over a jack."  Tapeesa held the small game piece in her hand, after Korra had handed it to her before they went to buy the tire.  It had been twisted and bent ( _Normally_ bent) as it was run over by the motorcycle, now a misshapen lump of pointy metal, but its original shape was unmistakable.  "Is...is that reassuring?  That they have normal problems?  Or....."  She trailed off, and Judith recognized the growing mania that she had faced in the mirror over the past several months, but Tapeesa's was softer, tempered.    Prefaced with stories and warnings and soothing introductions, it emerged slowly and controllable, not born full and vicious during a whistling rush through the air to the Earth's surface.  Not thrust upon her as fire and wind roared about her as her life was held in the hand of some being that shone and floated and had such power and....Judith forced down the image, forced down the rising tide that threatened to overwhelm her again.  Forced down the horror and fear and worship and awe and everything else that came with the memory of two gods standing before her in the forest.  She slid the knife back into its sheath and then attached the sheath to her belt, resting it in its familiar position, then reached over and plucked the jack out of Tapeesa's hands.

 

"When they come out, we'll ask them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short length, but I haven't missed an update yet and I was committed to getting **something** up today. Instead of giving you a chapter that was long but sub-par, I settled on short but (hopefully) meaningful.


	74. Chapter 74

As they left the tire shop, Asami was shaking her head in obvious disappointment and Korra was looking at her almost in awe.  What had happened inside?  What could have possibly occurred inside a tire shop to get Korra, with all of her powers, to bear that look of shock?  They were speaking to each other quietly in their own language, but switched to English when they got back over to their motorcycle to explain to Judith and Tapeesa.

 

"He wanted $300.00 for the replacement, plus cost of service.  Ridiculous.  Even if he has to order the tire it would not be more than $200, and likely not even that much, and why would I need their service?  I can replace the tire myself."  Asami seemed almost insulted at what she was relaying.

 

"Do you want to go to another shop?" Tapeesa asked, "there's a mechanics garage not too far away...."

 

"That will not be necessary, but thank you.  We agreed on a much more reasonable price."

 

"$179!" Korra shouted, practically bursting.

 

Both Tapeesa and Judith stared at Asami in surprise.  Did she have mind control powers as well?  But she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, and in doing so her hair flipped over her shoulders and they both had to fight a sudden internal flutter at the sight.  "It was not difficult, once you show that you are not willing to be cheated out of more money than you need to spend and that you know how much that actually is.  Unless you are dealing with somebody really low, you can reach a fair arrangement."  Then she smiled a little, "But I must admit that showing that man that I knew even more than he did about the uses of run-flat tires did feel satisfying."

 

Korra and Asami walked back over to the motorcycle and began to re-pack the equipment that had been left out as they went in to negotiate for the replacement.

 

"He does need to order the tire, it is not in stock, but it should arrive in two days he said.  We will return then."

 

" _Wait_!" The shout was sudden and all three turned to Judith, who was frantically looking back and forth between them.  "You can't....you can't just **go**.  There's so much I need to....we have to.....you can't just go...."

 

"No, we will not just go."  Korra stepped forward and raised her arm, placing it on Judith's shoulder when she showed no sign of recoiling in horror as she had from most other physical contact.  "We will stay to help, and to explain.  But we cannot stay _here_ , we will not be allowed to camp in the parking lot."  And Judith looked around and realized that they indeed were still standing outside of the tire shop, and they really could not have just stayed right where they were.   After a moment she began to laugh, and despite its shakiness it at least contained actual humor.

 

 "Right...wait, did you say 'camp'?"

 

* * *

 

 

Tapeesa's house was of moderate size, one of the nice single-family homes that were everywhere in the suburbs, and with only her living there she had more than enough room for two houseguests for a few days.  Especially for these two, whom she still did not understand if they actually were two of the spirits of the world, or something else, but whom she wanted to learn all that she could of.  _Especially_ if...she looked to her side, where Judith was still standing awkwardly and tensely, still not freely relaxed, still watching Korra and Asami as if she was unsure if she should draw the knife at her hip and start hacking away at them, or if she should draw the knife on herself and offer up her blood as a sacrifice.  Exactly what had happened to Judith in the forest was still unclear, even though she had told the story many times, and if these two could help.....  She had an attached garage where Korra and Asami could place their motorcycle and supplies, then lead them all into the house.

 

"Do you have a bath?" Korra asked.

 

"The bathroom is just down that hallway, first door on the left."  Tapeesa pointed, but Korra emerged after just sticking her head in.

 

"No, not a bathroom, a bath alone."  She thought for a moment before she elaborated.  "A tub for bathing, not a shower."

 

"Oh, uh...yeah, upstairs.  There's just one off of my bedroom."

 

"Can you show me, please, and Joo Dee come with?"  They looked at each other in confusion, but Tapeesa lead the way upstairs, with Judith following behind.  In the "master bathroom" (Which was quite cramped with all of them standing in there together), Tapeesa showed Korra how the combined bath/shower worked to fill with water.  "Thank you.  May we....may we have privacy, please?  Me and Joo Dee?"  Tapeesa's eyebrows rose at that request, but Judith just nodded without speaking, so Tapeesa backed out of the bathroom and shut the door behind her.  Standing outside the door for a pause she just heard the sound of the running water, then she tore herself away and walked downstairs to where Asami was waiting.

 

"What is....what do you want?"  Judith asked, her voice hoarse and barely more than a whisper, as Korra kneeled down next to the tub and stuck her hand into the water.

 

"I want to help.  There is so much twisted inside of you, so much blocked that...I do not know the words, but you are in pain, still trapped with us in the forest.  Trapped there forever.  We will explain, help you to understand, but also...I can help free the energy."  She had begun to rotate her wrist and the water had started to swirl in the tub, and also....was it starting to glow?  "Please, get into the bath.....no, not clothed."

 

Judith stared at the swirling water and at Korra and felt....what, shame?  Embarrassment?  She had changed and gotten dressed in front of uncaring strangers so often before, been forced without complaint into close quarters with other members of the RCAF that would have been considered personal in the civilian world, but now she hesitated.  Korra turned to look at her, and her blue eyes....months ago she had told Lieutenant-colonel Monke that Korra had looked so similar to Tapeesa, and now she could almost imagine that it was she kneeling next to the tub instead of Korra, but there was so much _more_ in those eyes.  There was something **else** contained in them, and the thought of disrobing before those eyes, before eyes that had seen she-knew-not-what, which could see her as a speck of dust, could look her over and disregard her as she might have disregarded an ant, was almost too much.  She began to shake again, felt the images rising again, and took a step backwards, bumping against the closed door and pressing herself flat against it.  "I.....I can't...."

 

"Please, Joo Dee.  Let me help," and Korra's voice was not the voice of power and grandness that she had come to fear and love, but that of a woman, even younger than Judith, who was hurting at seeing somebody else in pain.  Her body calmed, and she closed her eyes and stripped out of her clothing, dropping it to the floor.  She stood there in only her undergarments, wondering if Korra was looking at her with contempt or approval or human desire or divine dismissal, and also if she could stop there or if Korra needed her to be completely naked.  "Thank you, please get into the bath."

 

She expected it to be ice cold (Korra had not added any hot water), but instead the water was steaming as she slid into the bath.  Just shy of being painful, Judith could not help but let out a softening, relaxed moan as the warmth washed over her, burning like a warm fire on a cold night.  Almost against her will she felt her body relax, her tension flow out of her, and she managed to lean her head back to rest on the bathtub's edge.

 

"Just relax," Korra said, and then Judith began to feel the water flow around her.  It was almost like the bathtub had become a Jacuzzi, with jets under the surface shooting the water this way and that, and it felt like the entire mass of water had split into distinct, independently moving streams.  They swarmed around her, flowing across her skin, but she felt no urge to recoil and fight them off.  Suddenly, they coalesced over her stomach and seemed to condense into a ball, then they split apart again and reformed over the pit of her throat.  The process repeated almost a dozen times, with the water rivers joining together over different parts of her body, and as they moved she felt all of the conflict drain out of her.  All she felt was peace, a quiet stability for the first time in months.  It did not matter if Korra was some sort of god or devil, or if she was from some alien world, or why she was here, or what it meant for her own existence.  All that mattered was that, for the first time she could remember, she was able to let go and not be buried under all that had happened.

 

As the water flowed around, Judith Moon drifted off to a restful, dreamless sleep free from the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest, you all know that you fluttered at each and every @#$%ing hairflip.
> 
> It's not fair.


	75. Chapter 75

As Tapeesa walked down the staircase, the sound of the faucet fading as walls interposed themselves, she saw that Asami was standing in her living room, turning in place as she looked around. She was not touching anything, but just taking in the makeup of the room, letting her gaze fall on all of the knickknacks scattered around. Pictures of her parents, her brother and sister-in-law on their wedding day, her graduation photos, and in one corner a picture of her and Judith from back when they were kids. A caribou carving made from soapstone, legs bent in full gallop, rested on one of the side tables.

 

"You have a very nice house," she said.

 

"Thank you, I moved here about three years ago. I do most of my work from home, but I needed to be close enough to Vancouver for when I had to go into the city." Tapeesa found herself surprised at the banality of these remarks, as if she was not talking with a...spirit?...which had taken the form of a young woman. But Asami had seemed to mean the compliment genuinely. "What...uh...what are they doing up there?" and she waved back towards the staircase.

 

"Joo Dee is hurt inside. In her mind. Much of what happened was shocking, and dangerous, and also different from all that she had known before. Korra will try to...open....her mind, to help her find her own peace." Asami had sat down by now, resting her elbows on her knees and propping up her head.

 

"Will it....will it fix her?" Tapeesa's voice caught now, hesitant from the hope. They had not spoken for years, and had been distant even before they lost touch completely, but to see the confident, self-assured woman she had known be so broken now, so torn apart by the shadows of her own mind, tore her apart as well.

 

"Korra can help guide the healing process, but whether Joo Dee gets better or not is up to her. We will try to explain, to help her understand, as best we can." Tapeesa's head drooped a little, disappointed that they apparently could not do more. "I am sorry, but we cannot do that which we cannot do." Asami's brow furrowed after that, as if she had not meant to say something quite that redundant in English, but she apparently did not know any better way to phrase it.

 

"I....thank you, for doing what you can. Is there anything I can do to help?"

 

"Yes. Do you have any paper and writing tools?"

 

"I think so. Do you just want notepaper, or something bigger?"

 

"Bigger, please, as big as you have."

 

It took Tapeesa a few minutes, but she eventually dug up some of the construction paper her nephew had left behind when he visited a few months back, along with several pens and markers. Thanking her, Asami spread out the paper and began to trace out several pictures.

 

"What are you drawing?" Tapeesa asked as she looked over Asami's shoulder.

 

"To help Joo Dee--and you--understand us and our world. There are many things to explain, and this will help." A map was beginning to emerge as she spoke, with geography and borders unlike any land Tapeese could recognize in the world. She worked steadily and precisely, marking out individual notations with minute, careful movements of her pen.

 

"Are you an artist?" The drawings seemed almost like calligraphy, coming into existence with a flourish of Asami's wrist and in such vibrancy that it seemed more like a classical painting than a hand drawing. She remembered school reproductions of ancient maps, emblazoned with depictions of mythical beasts and religious warnings, and even though this creation seemed clinically accurate, with no fantastic embellishments, it was more like those pictures than a modern atlas.

 

"No, but I have done much design work. It is easy to parse out parts and mark off borders, just as if I was working with metal joints and accounting for force." She leaned in as she spoke, making a few last notations, before she leaned back and turned the paper around to face Tapeesa. "This is where we are from."

 

Tapeesa practically snatched at the paper, but her eager glance turned to a frown as she looked it over. Despite the artistry of the map itself, the land it portrayed seemed to be...land. A continent, several islands, and surrounding oceans. "Is this your spirit home?"

 

"No, this is the mortal world. We are not from the Spirit World." Asami leaned forward and touched the large continent. :"This is the Earth Kingdom, the largest of the five nations. Although....maybe its name has changed by now, there were plans for Wu to abdicate and elections to be held in all of the states." She then reached to touch both the top and bottom of the map at the same time. "The Water Tribes live at the north and south poles. Korra was born here, in the Southern Water Tribe. This is the Fire Nation. The Air Nomads do not really have any single home, but their temples are across the world. This," she wound her hand down a strip of land in the north-west of the 'Earth Kingdom', "is the United Republic of Nations. I was born there, and this is now home to both myself and Korra."

 

"Why these names? 'Earth Kingdom', 'Fire Nation'. Are there different spirits in each?"

 

"Yes, but I do not believe like you are thinking. There are spirits everywhere in the world, crossing over from the Spirit World, but these names come from the people who live there, and the elements they are born to. Fire is the element of power, the people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance, the people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong, they are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom, the old Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns, and found peace and freedom; the new Air Nomads now serve all nations, not bound by any borders or restrictions. Water is the element of change, the people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things, they have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything." Asami's eyes shone when she finished, letting her hand rest on the Southern Water Tribe again.

 

"And this fifth one? The...United Republic?" It did not fit the naming scheme, sounding so....artificial. Not elemental or spiritual. How could it fit in with everything else?

 

"The United Republic is the youngest of the nations, but it is also the one with the brightest future."  Her eyes shone differently than they had when she described the Water Tribe, but Asami still touched that section of the map with fondness.  "Seventy years ago the 100 Years War came to en end.  It was the worst struggle in our history, with so much death and destruction that we are still feeling the consequences, and like all wars it had also lain the seeds for its own following.  The Fire Nation had conquered large swathes of the Earth Kingdom and colonized the sections it had held for the longest, with Fire Nation citizens that had lived there for years.  They did not want to leave their homes, but the Fire Nation could not be allowed to keep the land, spoils of a hundred years of bloodshed and genocide.  To prevent another war, Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko, and the Earth King created this new nation, independent from the others.  It would be open to the people of all the world, no matter their nations, so they could live together in peace and harmony.  Since then we've built a new nation, together; I myself have both Fire and Earth heritage."

 

"'Avatar'....you have said that word before, Korra called herself the Avatar.  That she was a....a spirit bonded with a human.  What does that mean?"

 

"I'm not sure I can explain it, the nature of the Avatar stretches back to the start of our history, but it is the duty of the Avatar to bring balance to the world and serve as the bridge between the Mortal World and the Spirit World."

 

"So, she **is** an a _ngakkuq_?  Uh...an _angakkuq_ is...I mean....for the Inuit, an  _angakkuq_  used to be a shaman, they helped keep balance.  Between people and tribes, and between people and the spirits of the world."

 

"That is the duty of the Avatar, but it is not something can be learned or chosen.  The Avatar is born into purpose again and again, it is a cycle of reincarnation started by Raava, the Spirit of Light and Peace.  The Avatar has lived a thousand lifetimes, and Korra....Korra is what it has all lead to.  Everything that came before was all so that we could have her, now."

 

Tapeesa was silent now, staring at the map that lay before her and reviewing what Asami had told her.  The world they came from....Asami had spoken of a war and political boundaries, like any conflict of the normal world, but also of the spirits and elements of each nation.  So similar, but also so different, and the Avatar....if she was understanding correctly, Korra was not a _tuurngait_ , a spirit of the world without a body, but this Raava was, that had merged with her, and....

 

"Why are you here?"

 

"We told you before, and we did not lie.  We came here by accident, an accident we do not understand, and we wish to return home.  We both have friends back there, responsibilities, and it is the world that we know.  The world needs Korra, needs the Avatar, and I...I need to be with her."

 

Tapeesa continued to stare at the map, and without taking her eyes away from it said, "Please, tell me more."


	76. Chapter 76

When Judith slowly began to rise back to consciousness, it was like climbing out of a soft, warm world of foam. As she stretched there was no resistance, no tension, and she could breathe like--she could _breathe_. She opened her eyes and looked around, and did not recognize where she was; she was not in her own apartment, nor was she lying in the motel she had been staying at in Squamish. There was no panic at not knowing her surroundings, however, just a lazy realization as she continued to meander her way towards full waking. Groaning, she leveraged herself out of the bed and sat on its side, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and recall what had happened. She had been in Tapeesa's bathroom, lying in the tub, with Korra doing something to the water and...it all faded out in a warm haze. She did not remember how she had gotten from the tub into Tapeesa's bed or---she was in **Tapeesa's** bed. Looking around again, she recognized Tapeesa's bedroom and found that she was loosely wrapped in one of her robes as well. Who had moved her? Korra? Korra and Asami? Had they carried her with their magic, floating her through the air and....she braced herself for the surge of memory, for the cascade of thought and feeling that would overwhelm her and smash her defenses, but it did not come. All she felt was curiosity, wondering at the specifics, not the crush of emotion that had always been waiting to slam her to the ground.

　

Her inhalations came easy, her exhales were relaxed, and her limbs were steady. How long she sat there she could not have said, but she closed her eyes and lay her head in her hands, and relished the unparalleled, unrivaled beauty of peace and silence. The freedom of her own mind, denied for so long, was a bliss unlike anything she had ever felt before.

　

It was only when she noticed the emptiness of her stomach that she was spurred to movement. It had darkened to twilight now, but not yet night, so she could not have been asleep for too long, unless she had slept through to the next night. With the energy she felt from her sleep, and the hunger gnawing at her pit, that was entirely possible, so she decided it was time to see what had transpired. Walking softly, she left the bedroom and made her way down the hallway towards the stairs, where she could hear the traces of faint voices. Down the stairs, Tapeesa, Korra and Asami were sitting together in the living room, looking over what seemed to be hand-drawn maps and apparently giving some kind of history lesson. The story of the world they had come from? The explanation for their abilities? She cleared her throat to gain their attention, and when they turned to her she saw...three people. Not Tapeesa standing beside two forest gods, not beings to be hated or worshipped or feared or loved, but three people reading a map.

　

It was as if somebody had driven through her mind and cleared out everything that was clogging her thoughts, unblocking all of the streams and energy within her. She remembered the power they had displayed, she still feared what they could do and wondered what they were, but she could accept them. She could deal with them. She could move forward.

　

"Do we...uh...is there any dinner?"

　

* * *

 

 

"That's most of what they told me," Tapeesa said as Judith worked through a bowl of warm, thick broth, "The background big picture. They've been going over more details, too, but...we can go over that later. I'm still trying to deal with this whole world they were explaining."

　

They were looking at one of the maps Asami had drawn--Magical powers, bonding with spirits, fighters, and also _artists_? Was there anything these two could not do?--and Judith tried to fit what she had learned into her worldview. It explained much of what she had heard them say when they were being interviewed by Colonel Monke (Or rather, seen them write and translate back and forth), some names that seemed almost normal and some that seemed like something out of a fantasy book. Some of the rest of it....even with all that she had seen them do, their talk of the Spirit World, the abilities they had discussed, still seemed unreal.

　

"How are you going to get home?" She finally asked.

　

"We do not know. As we have said several times, we still do not understand how it was that we got here. None of what we have learned on your internet has explained what happened." Asami paused for a moment, then repeated what she had said earlier that day when they were all eating at the diner. "We believe that your government knows what brought us here, or at least more than we do, and we have been hoping to discover what this knowledge is so that we can travel home, but we have also not known where to begin. We have no wish to declare war on your people, to overturn your way of life, so we have not tried to challenge them directly, merely go our own way until a opportunity presents itself. We are not your enemies, and never have been."

　

They had been saying that from the beginning, ever since they had first started to communicate through scribbled notes, and Judith had no doubt that they were telling the truth. She might have even believed it long ago. Unfortunately, it did not really matter that she believed it. It did not matter that it was true. They were still wanted by her superiors for questioning and explanations, and still connected to abilities that could pose a direct threat to life and property. It was not her place to absolve them of their history, not her place to deem them free to travel and live in Canada. Despite being on the beach, despite the transparent intent of the RCAF to sweep her under the carpet, despite _everything_ , it was still her duty to deny them any aide and comfort, and to report what she had learned to her superiors.

 

"On June 21, at 10:51 UT, there was a radiation burst detected above the Arctic sea ice. It was centered almost exactly over the geographic center of the North Pole and set off particle detectors across the hemisphere, and it was more intense than anything we've ever seen on Earth before. Bigger than the Tsar Bomba. I and the rest of the RCAF detachment you saw at Station Alert were dispatched to study the phenomenon and determine what had caused it, and whether it was a natural occurrence or if it might be some sort of new weapon or technology. When we were out there investigating, we found you." It came out fast, with no preface, but Judith spoke calmly and directly. "Whatever brought you here, it either caused that electro-magnetic bloom, or it was caused _by_ the bloom."

 

Korra and Asami stared at her silently for a moment, and she knew that _they_ knew exactly what she had been thinking. Everything that her speaking had implied. Instead of commenting on that, however, Asami simple asked "Do you know what it was?"

 

"No, I don't, I wasn't....I'm not a scientist, I was deployed for support and tactical resources during the investigation. I don't think any of the boffins knew, either, when I last got any new intel. Colonel Monke was going to stamp the entire affair 'Unknown natural event', the twenty-first century Tunguska event, until.....until you, actually. You weren't just unknown, you were actively suspicious; finding you out there in our search area with no explanation sent up red flags all over the place. Add in your escape from our...holding...and it looks like the deliberate and planned insertion of foreign nationals into our territory after some sort of massive new technology development."

 

"Do you know where we could learn more?"  Korra was leaning in now, eager.

 

"No, I don't.  You were correct that we were trying to contain any results we achieved in research into the event, and I expect that the other investigators are too.  Hell, Russia's probably sitting on their intel until they can spin it into some sort of new superweapon."

 

"But your government...."

 

"Research could be happening at any of two dozen different CFB bases, if it's left Station Alert at all, and that's not taking into considering if the Americans have gotten involved."

 

"Americans?  The nation to the south?"  Asami did not look 'confused' so much, but clearly did not understand how they could come to be involved.  "We have studied your maps and nations of the world, they are even further away on the other side of your country."

 

"Yes, but..." How could you possibly condense the entire Canadian-US relationship into something simple enough to understand for somebody who was so new to everything?  The Permanent Joint Board on Defence?  NORAD?  The cooperation required by having the longest contiguous border between two nations on the planet?  "There is a very close relationship between our governments, including our militaries, and the Americans have a lot of influence.  They might have been included in the research into the event, especially after your escape and my superiors became convinced that this was some sort of human technology."

 

Korra and Asami both leaned back, visibly disappointed that her willingness to give them information had not magically solved their problems, but they did not slump in defeat.  If anything, they still looked happier than they had before, even though she had not given them any information truly unique from what they either already knew or had suspected.

 

"Thank you for what you can tell us," Asami said, "and for your presence here now.  We will continue to search and discover our own way home.  Until then, as we have done so far, there is still much of your world left to see."

 

There was a silence around the table, until Judith finally said "Tomorrow, would you....can we talk more tomorrow?"


	77. Chapter 77

After Korra and Asami readied for bed in the guest room Tapeesa offered them, they lay side by side and stared up together. There were glowing shapes stuck to the ceiling above them, stylized as stars and grouped in fanciful designs, like a child's picture of the constellations. It might have been distracting, but instead they amused themselves forming patterns and trying to divine what they were meant to represent.

 

"Well, that one's clearly a person," Asami pointed at a string of stars that had a bulbous moon at one end and four lines sticking off its middle, "head, arms, legs, it's all there."

 

"Obviously," Korra agreed, "but I can't help but notice that you missed the platybus-bear he is walking." Next to the stick-figure was a mass of stars clustered together that might, if you squinted your eyes and turned your head, have looked like there were legs and a wide, broad tail.

 

"I didn't miss it, I was just waiting for you to pick it up." Asami's voice held a giggle in it. "What about that one?" and she waved to a jumbled mess at one end of the starfield.

 

"It's one of those helicopters, of course." Korra said it with such confidence that she might as well have been pointing to a blueprint of the device. "See, there's the spinning parts up on top..."

 

"Of course, how did I miss it? And that one?" There was a curving arc that looked like a helix wrapping around a straight line.

 

"That one....that's the two lovers dancing together." Korra's voice was suddenly soft, suddenly deep and heavy with emotion.

 

"Oh?"

 

"That line in the center, she's strong and direct, but alone. See, she's pointing away from the rest of the stars? There's nothing over there for her to go to. The one wrapping around her, though, is what's keeping her here. She's holding her together, keeping her with the rest of the stars. But she's not just giving everything away, because she's also being held up by the one inside. So, they're dancing together, the outer one is moving around, and the inner one is holding up, and they make a single movement."

 

Asami did not say anything in response, but she leaned over and lightly touched her lips to Korra's cheek, which was the tiniest bit wet from a tear almost too small to have even existed at all. Asami held the contact for a breathless instance, just feeling the warmth of Korra's cheek and letting Korra feel her, before she leaned over a little bit further and touched Korra's lips just as lightly. "They're so beautiful together, aren't they?" She asked eventually.

 

"Yes, they are." Korra said, and then she reached up and pulled Asami down against her, not with strength, but gently. They were again motionless together, lost in the tenderness and the feel of one another.

 

They did not pursue their physical connection, letting themselves drift off to sleep beside one another, but that was okay for both of them. Right now, at this second, they did not need passion or urgency, but just the knowledge that they would continue to dance together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest with you all, _**MASSIVE**_ writer's block right now. We're talking huge. _Duke Nukem Forever_ levels of blockage (Hopefully with better results afterwards, though). So, we get this little bit of fluff to tide us over until tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll delve into some behind-the-scenes.
> 
> As I said about fifty thousand words ago, my original plan for this story was a light bit of adventure as Korra and Asami drive around, having whacky adventures from town to town. No real threat or overarching plot except for the very loose "How do we get home?" concept. However, I kept backing up a little bit further to explain this-or-that, and introducing a new element to support the story, and we're pretty much nowhere near where I was planning to go. The brief vignettes I used a few chapters ago to essentially time-skip their journey from Montreal to here is the closest we've been to what I had originally planned. That can't work as the entire story, though, since I've been trying for 'realism' and that means worrying about money, government pursuit, the dangers to two young women alone on the roadway, etc., but I snuck it in there for what I could.
> 
> I have actually inserted some real people I know into this series in some cameos, and hopefully a few more as we move along. I'm struggling to think up excuses for K&A to visit all of their home territories to bump into them, but I'll figure it out. You haven't met me, yet, but hopefully I'll break in somewhere along the path (They're gonna need to ride about 3,030.625 miles to reach me....approximately speaking).
> 
> We're nowhere near the end of the story as it is, when we start reaching the crescendo it will be extremely obvious (Unless the concept changes again, as it has more than once already). I'd estimate we'll wind up in the ~300,000 word range by the time I wind down, but that's subject to change as well. Just so you're all aware, I have by now included (I think) enough clues to at least tangentially be able to explain just what it was that brought Korra and Asami to our world, and maybe even how they'll get home. If you have managed to piece it together, congratulations! If you haven't, don't worry, you're not missing something glaringly obvious. Some of these bits have been scattered starting back in the first dozen or so chapters, and some were just put out in the last update, and some are **so** vague that they could only logically make sense in retrospect (Where you'll hopefully go "Ooooooh, I get it!").
> 
> As an FYI, this coming weekend might lead to our first break in updates, as I will be out of town visiting family and might not be able to throw anything up. I will be writing, though, so that might give you some stuff that's actually _good_ once I'm back (I'll actually have had a chance to review and edit it since it won't be posted the second it's done).
> 
> If any of you have any questions about what I've done so far, or what I'm going to do in the future, throw them into the comments and I'll do my best to help out (Spoilers might be tricky). I've been reading every single comment so far and knowing that you're all reading this story, some of you actually _enjoying_ it (Whodathunk?), brightens my day with every single posting. As I've said before, you're all amazing.


	78. Chapter 78

"This is called 'streaming the water'," Korra said, "and it was one of the very first forms I ever learned."  As she spoke, she shifted her balance to the side and leaned forward, pulling a ribbon of water up from a puddle on the ground and circling it around herself between her outstretched arms.  "The key to waterbending is to be like water itself. Soft, able to flow with the environment around you, feeling the push and pull of the moon and ocean."  Her wrists spun and the ribbon of water streamed around her.  "It is easy to see it as being weak, but that is not the case; you need to be ready to adapt to many things, and by staying soft you are ready for anything.  Water cannot be broken, cannot be smashed or cut, and it cannot be stopped."  The ribbon spun over her head and angled back towards the puddle it had come from, disappearing into its surface without even a ripple.

 

Joo Dee and Tapeesa were sitting on the small deck behind Tapeesa's house, watching with eyes wide at Korra's demonstration.  Joo Dee was calmer than she had seemed ever since they had wound up in the forest together, more at peace since the previous night's healing at Tapeesa's home, but there was still a catch in her voice.  She still did not have the steady, even professional tone she had borne when they could not understand her at the military base at the north pole, and her glance was still darting towards Korra and Asami every few moments as if to make sure they were in the same place.  Despite all that waterbending could do, especially when working with the energy within her body and the blockages at each of her chakras, she would still need to recover on her own.  Still, she  _could_  recover, and she had seemed eager to learn all she could about bending.

 

"The key to earthbending is your stance.  You need to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you are going to move it, you must be like a rock yourself."  Her legs were spaced widely and she took a deep breath, and on her exhale her arms swept upward and a chunk of earth lurched up from the ground in an irregular lump.  She settled herself deeper and the earth floated in the air, held steady as if it was still rooted in the ground.  "Rock endures, like the earth itself, and faces all obstacles head on."  She was tempted to replicate the 'head on' demonstration one of her earthbending teachers had shown her when she was younger, but held back; Tapeesa had said they would not be overheard or observed in her back yard, but the sound of an exploding boulder likely would have drawn  _some_ notice.  Rotating around her center, she circled the earth around the yard and then returned it to its original hole.  As it settled, she smoothed it out so that there was not even a line in the grass.

 

"Firebending power comes from the breath, not the muscle.  The breath becomes energy within the body, which is released in the form of fire," and Korra lunged forward, a burst of flame emerging from her fists.  "Fire is alive, it breathes and grows out of its own hunger.  Without a bender a rock will not throw itself, but fire will spread if you do not have the will to control it.  To the foolish it is a tool of destruction, seeing only the destructive power it holds, but fire also brings life.  The heat and warmth of the sun which grants us light and feeds the plants is the greatest source of firebending in the world."

 

"Airbending is all about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch direction at a moment's notice."  As Korra began to spin across the lawn, she remembered when she had given a similar demonstration to Claire and her friends in front of Kunik's house, already several months in the past.  "Air you cannot control, you do not hold it prisoner in your hands, you can only guide it in the direction you need it to go."  She wanted, almost more than anything, to unveil her glider and fly above the house to demonstrate, but that would have drawn attention to this house instantly.  Instead, she began to run and spun a ball of moving air out in front of her, leaping atop the air scooter.  As she sped across the ground, she could see Joo Dee's eyes widen even further at the sight, a look almost of longing passing across her expression.  However, when Korra actually passed by her and Tapeesa, with the wind of her passing blowing across their faces, Joo Dee suddenly twisted aside and gasped almost as if in pain, shuddering and squeezing her eyes shut.  Korra released the scooter as soon as she noticed and began to walk over, but Joo Dee sat forward and waved her aside.

 

"Don't worry, it's just....it's nothing.  Just memories.  Please, continue."

 

"Those are all four of the elements," Korra said, raising a stool out of the earth in front of them and sitting down.  "Each has its own styles, its own strengths and weaknesses, and in the past they were divided amongst the nations.  But It is important to draw wisdom from many different places; if you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help people become whole.  Now, with the formation of the United Republic, there are places where benders from different nations and different styles can work together and share their knowledge.  My friend Bolin..."  Korra paused for a moment, and a small smile spread on her face.  It was not sad, not quite, but it held sadness within it.  "...Bolin was a Pro-Bender.  He was...oh, Pro-Bending is a sport, a competition between teams of benders using different elements.  Bolin was one of the first people I met when I came to Republic City, and he was the first person to show me the new styles that had arisen there.  How to stay loose as an earthbender, while keeping its strength, blending the styles into a new whole.  It was something I needed to help myself learn airbending."  Her smile was larger now, as she could imagine Bolin's reaction to this very conversation.  His pride at having taught the Avatar, and his confusion at how what he had done had actually helped.

 

"What can you bend?" Joo Dee had turned to Asami, who stood behind them and was likewise observing Korra's demonstration.

 

"Me?  I am not a bender, I cannot bend anything."

 

"Not a...yesterday, you said you had Fire and Earth ancestry."  Tapeesa was not accusing, but she was quite obviously confused.  "You aren't an earth- and firebender?"

 

"I do have that heritage, but I am not a bender.  It is not something that comes only from your blood, but there are spiritual and personal matters that influence who is born as a bender.  Many people in all of the nations are born without any bending, and none can bend two of the elements."

 

"None?"  Joo Dee was looking back and forth between Korra and Asami now, and her expression had cleared when Asami said that she did not have any bending.

 

"None," Asami said.  "If I was to have been a bender it would have been either fire or earth, but not both.  Our friend Bolin has a brother, Mako, and their parents were also from the Earth and Fire Nations.  Bolin is an earthbender, and Mako is a firebender.  Only the Avatar can bend more than one element, and she masters all four to maintain balance in the world."  Tapeesa turned back to Korra with another new expression at the revelation that she was special even in her own world, while Korra met her gaze calmly.

 

"If you cannot bend...what do you do?"  Phrased that way, the question could have been very insulting, especially with the way tensions between benders and non-benders were still raw in Republic City.  The Equalists as an organization had not posed a problem for years, and they were pariahs amongst almost the entire populace, but that did not erase the the economic and class struggles that had existed between benders and non-benders, even if things were better now than they had been before.  Joo Dee's question, however, had been asked openly, and she had no knowledge of the strife that had arisen in years past.

 

"I do not need bending to live my life, I have my mind and my body regardless.  Running Future Industries does not need bending prowess, only intelligence and determination."

 

"Running the future?"  Joo Dee looked confused now, and Asami wondered if maybe she had gotten the translation wrong.

 

"My company is named Future Industries."

 

"You....your  _company_?"  Joo Dee looked confused in a different manner now.

 

"Yes, the largest manufacturing and technological development industry in the United Republic."  She spoke with no small measure of pride.  "The ability to bend would not help in a business negotiation, or when designing a new engine.  It does have many advantages and gives much to the world, but bending is not the only solution to problems, and oftentimes people who have it think that it can apply to every situation, and are helpless when it will not help them.  To think my way out of a problem is better than any application of the elements."  Instead of looking angry or insulted, Korra was nodding in agreement as Asami spoke.  Joo Dee, however, had yet another new look of surprise on her face as she looked at Asami.

 

Slowly, as if to make sure she understood clearly, Joo Dee asked, "You own a company," Asami nodded at the question, "and you are the only one who can bend all four elements." Korra nodded as well.  "Are all people from your world so uniquely special?"

 

Korra and Asami looked each other briefly, then Korra nodded again and said "Yes.  Yes they are."


	79. Chapter 79

"Where will you go?" Joo Dee asked, as Korra was about to carry her dish and utensils into the kitchen where Asami and Tapeesa were cleaning up from dinner.

 

She paused, and then asked in turn, "Do you mean tomorrow, when our motorcycle is repaired, or forever?"

 

"Both," said Joo Dee.

 

"Tomorrow we will go to Vancouver, we have seen so many of your towns and they are identical in many ways, but also so different from each other in other ways. In our world there is only one language, but you have two languages that we have learned even in this one nation, and more that we do not yet know. How will this city be different from Montreal? How will it be different from the places we have passed on our journey here? Just being able to see what it holds is a wonder for me and Asami. After that....we will head south. The weather has begun to turn cold, and I do not want to be forced to survive the winter of your land without steady shelter. We will pass through the ice and snow there."

 

"South, that's...you mean you'll go into the United States, the...uh...the nation south of Canada."

 

"Yes, the United States of America, we've learned something of it through TV and the internet, but to be honest I do not trust much of what I have heard. If all of what was said on TV and the internet were true, this nation of Canada would be nothing but a sheet of ice and snow like we saw at the North Pole, and the only people living here would be citizens of the United States that have fled to here to escape their government."

 

Joo Dee could not contain a snort of laughter at Korra's comment, and she muttered something beneath her breath. Louder she said, "Yeah, you can't trust everything you see on TV, some of their movies are pretty much....but the States are different from here in some ways. Different customs, different history. Even the English they speak is different in some ways."

 

"That is part of why we are going, not just because of the coming snow. Your world is **so** vast, and we have seen only this one nation so far. Until we have found our way home, we need to see as much as we can."

 

"You could....you could stay here, you know. In Squamish. Ride out the winter indoors." Joo Dee's voice was tender, and the offer was vulnerable in a way that had nothing to do with the trauma of their escape from the plane or their encounters in the forest.

 

"No, we could not." Korra's voice held no rebuke, but it was firm. "Your military found us in Montreal after we had been there only for days, and we believe that was only from videos that had been put on your internet by random people, not even spies or agents of government. We have been safer since then, we leave an area as soon as either of us has done anything to demonstrate our presence and we take reasonable precautions, but we have also decided that we will not cower and hide ourselves. I will not conceal my bending, Asami will not smother her mind, and if we were to stay here then your military would be upon us very soon. We have to keep moving."

 

"Then I could come with you. I could be your guide, help you understand our world, explain strange situations and...and...."

 

"You are not ready for that. You need time to recover, to be with Tapeesa, to--"

 

"No!" It was almost, but not quite, a shout. "What you did last night, I'm so much....I can take it."

 

Korra looked at her, and her firmness cracked a little bit, to show a sadness underneath. Instead of speaking, she raised her right hand and extended it towards Joo Dee, flicking her wrist and generating a small whirlwind that sprung from her palm towards Joo Dee's face. It was a very minor effort of airbending, suitable only for something as small as cooling off a hot drink, but when it came into contact with Joo Dee and blew her hair back, she reacted as though it was a stronger gust of hurricane winds. Her head twisted as thought at a slap and she broke out in a cold sweat almost instantly as her eyes squeezed shut. She stayed that way for a few baited breathes before she relaxed. When her eyes opened again, Korra was in front of her and gingerly reached out to cup her chin, her own eyes filled with understanding.

 

"I know what it is like to go through a traumatic experience. Three years ago I was...a man named Zaheer hurt many of my friends, and he hurt me, and...he hurt me very badly, and I was angry, and I was scared, and I was hurt in ways that cannot be healed by waterbending.  I felt the way I was then in you in the forest before we sent you away, and I felt it again last night.  I have helped you, I have opened up your energy and done what I can, but this is in your mind and spirit, not your body.  I promise you, if you dedicate yourself to getting better, you will recover, stronger than ever, but this is not something you can ignore or charge through.  You need time, and to be patient, to come to terms with everything that has happened."

 

Joo Dee shut her eyes of her own accord this time, and as she did her breathing calmed to a steady rhythm.  "I will...okay.....once we're completely done with dinner, I'll tell you what I know of the United States."

 

* * *

 

"Let us come with you," Tapeesa said, almost jocularly, as Asami was emptying the remains of their dinner into the trash. "I still want to learn about your world."

 

"I do not think that would be a good idea," Asami said, struggling to scrape off the potatoes that seemed determined to stick to her plate, "we will give you as much information as we can before we go."

 

"It'd be a _great_ idea.  More than just the facts and names, there's the spirits you have, the...the...the _everything_.  I dismissed these stories when I was a kid, I can barely remember half of them, but to know they're really _out there_ is....."

 

"Tapeesa, the spirits of our world are not yours."

 

"But I think they **are**.  Or, I don't know, maybe they're cousins?  No, that's ridiculous, what I mean is...you've said yourself that some parts of our world are so similar to your own.  Not just the writing in Chinese, but different types of food, too, and even some martial arts.  The stories Korra has shared of Water Tribe spirits, and other parts of their culture, are so similar to what I grew up with as well.  What if our worlds have crossed over before?  Maybe thousands of years ago?  Or if there is a spiritual connection, enough for some aspects to bleed through?  Maybe the spirits traveled from our world to yours, or vice-versa?  What if Igaluk is the same spirit as  推...uh...Tui, you said, the moon?  I can't just....I can't just walk away from this now."

 

"You do not need to walk away from anything," Asami was still scraping the same pile of potatoes, but she put down the plate to turn around.  "I will not refuse you the right to accompany us, but this is not only a vacation...although I will admit to enjoying our travels.  You will become associated with us by your government, who believes us to be criminals or enemies of some sort.  We do not always have easy access to shelter (She forebear mentioning that Korra could always erect an earthen shelter for them) and have encountered many dangerous situations, some which we could only resolve through violence.  Eventually, we will find our way back to our world and leave these problems behind, but you would deal with them for the rest of your life; could you be a fugitive in your own land until the end of your days?  Will you be ready to face the enemies that you will make in our presence?"

 

"Well...uh...."

 

"You have treated us kindly, welcomed us into your home, and we will not bar you from joining us if that is your final wish, but I do not think it will be the enlightenment you hope it to be.  Speak to Joo Dee later tonight, learn her opinion as a longer friend of yours who has already been affected by our presence, and blamed for our actions.  Be aware of all that you ask."

 

Tapeesa nodded without saying anything, and turned back to her dishes.  Asami, for her part, resumed fighting that one potato remnant on her plate which refused to cooperate.  Here, at least, was a simple, direct challenge she could solve.

 


	80. Chapter 80

As they watched Korra and Asami ride out of Squamish on their motorcycle, both Judith and Tapeesa briefly struggled to remember that they were living in real life and not a movie. The picturesque image of two beautiful women roaring on a motorcycle, heading off into unknown (For them) territory as they escaped government pursuit and performed random acts of heroism, seemed like it should have been on a movie poster or something. Instead of the scene fading to black, however, once they were out of sight Judith and Tapeesa turned back to each other on Tapeesa's front porch and found themselves suddenly unsure of what to say to each other. While Korra and Asami had been there everything had carried their larger-than-life flavor, but now...

 

"'Saw, thank you so much for these past few days, you didn't need to let them stay here, or help me with everything and....thank you."

 

"You don't need to thank me for that, not after everything you'd told me. With what you'd been through, I couldn't just..." Unsure of how to finish, Tapeesa instead assumed a much more lighthearted tone. "Besides, two sexy ladies ride out of the wilderness wanting to stay with me? You'd have needed to knock me out to keep them away."

 

Judith could not restrain her own burst of laughter at the remark, and could only nod her head. "Still, thanks. What Korra did that first night....her waterbending, and their explaining what it all meant, it's helped me. It's not all better, it's not gone, but...I don't know how to explain it, but I can _think_ now."

 

"If all it took was time together in the bath you should have told me that weeks ago and I could have helped out."

 

Judith laughed even harder than she had a moment ago and then....she realized that her cheeks were beginning to redden, and she was unsure of exactly how to respond. She had originally come here weeks ago out of desperation, seeking some tiny point of commonality with a person who had shared the stories and legends that were rattling around her mind, somebody who would listen to her and not instantly dismiss her as crazy or suffering from delusions caused by Post-Traumatic Stress. She had not had a plan of what would happen afterwards, nor had she ever imagined that they would have possibly run into Korra and Asami randomly on the road. Now, with her mind clear and Korra and Asami on their way.....

 

"I should probably get going back to my motel, let you begin putting your house back together. Or...do you want help cleaning up? I can lend a hand before I leave."

 

"Don't worry about clean-up, they actually took pretty much everything with them. But....you don't...I mean....you can still stay around anyway. Just to talk or...talk"

 

"I don't....I'm not sure, 'Saw. I don't want to drag you any further into anything, and...." Judith remembered their slow drift apart after she had enlisted over fifteen years ago. What seemed like daily phone calls which had turned into weekly, then e-mails once a month, until eventually...they had not spoken for years before now. She had not even known for sure where Tapeesa was living, and had needed to do some digging on-line to find her address. She would never be able to articulate exactly what she was thinking when she had caught a flight to Vancouver or how she expected to be received when she showed up at her door unannounced, but now that her mind was clear and there was not this surge of fire and light that was **driving** her.....all the time between them seemed to come back. "I think I should get back to my motel."

 

She turned back to the door to grab her things from inside, when she felt a hand grab hers. It was not a firm grab, not an act of physical restraint, but it stopped her nonetheless. As Tapeesa held her hand, Judith froze in place at the contact and waited. Still facing the door, she heard from behind her, "Please, Judy. Stay. Just until...please, stay."

 

"Okay."

 

* * *

 

 

"I know things were rough between you and your parents when you left, but why'd you freeze out everybody else?" They were having a modest lunch (Turkey sandwich for Judith, leftover butter tart for Tapeesa) in Tapeesa's kitchen, staring at one another across the table.

 

"I didn't 'freeze out' anybody, it was just....time. I was deployed and everybody was getting on with their lives, and we couldn't hold on to childhood friendships. It's not exactly a unique story." As she picked at her sandwich, Judith noticed what sounded like a large truck driving past outside and she lazily turned in her seat to track it as it passed.

 

"No, it's different than that. Arnold Spacey joined the navy and he kept in touch, and he made it home on leave every once in a while. Frances and Victor told me they tried to reach out to you, and Willy--you remember Willy?--sometimes he still mentions you when I fly home for the holidays. We all wanted to stay in touch."

 

"It's been fiften years, 'Saw, I don't...." Judith wound down and noticed another loud engine passing by the house.

 

Tapeesa, however, did not let herself be distracted by the noises of traffic. "Me and you kept talking, yeah, but even then you never came home to visit, never invited me out to wherever you were....I didn't expect you to be flying home every weekend or anything, but you were staying away on purpose."

 

"It was...there was a lot going on. You know that."

 

"Yeah, but... _what_? Your parents I get, but everything else?"

 

"'Saw, it was...what do you want me to say?"

 

"I just want to understand. What you were thinking, what you wanted....I know we weren't together anymore, but why'd you work so hard to cut off everything from your life?"

 

"It wasn't that simple, it was...do you remember how great my parents were when I came out? After everything I'd heard I expected shouting and fighting and smashed plates and they were just _perfect_ about everything. They helped me tell other people, they got me into support, they were textbook...until I got around to telling them about you. Everything else they could accept with open arms, but dating an Inuk? _That_ was the problem."

 

Tapeesa was silent, just waiting for her to continue.

 

"Did I ever tell you that? They wanted me to dump you, or force you to dump me, and the things they...I'm pretty sure my mother is the one who got your father fired, and I have no idea what else they would have tried. I just needed out. I couldn't deal with that, not then, and everybody else back home...do you remeber--oh, god, what was his name?--Herbie something? You played football with him, and you thought he had a crush on me? He called us being together a _shonda_. Of all the ridiculous....my brother helped me get out--I think he knew before I said anything, but he still denies it--and then I needed to **stay** out. Everything, even our friends, were all stuck down in that mire and I couldn't sink back into it. Even you. I just....I needed to stay out." Her voice was growing strident, filled with the old ache from nearly two decades past. "The complete break I had once I enlisted....everything was new. New people, new life, I started over."

 

Judith's breathing was heavy now, but it was not the weight that had been on her shoulders from her time in the forest. This was an old, familiar weight that she had carried for a lot longer. Tapeesa remained silent, but she reached across the table and grabbed Judith's hand, holding it tightly. She ran her thumb over the back of Judith's hand, just letting her grow comfortable with the sensation, and then pulled Judith's hand back across the table, resting it against her cheek. She still did not say anything, but eventually Judith cracked a small smile. It was tiny, but it was there as she looked across the table. Another truck drove past outside as she began to reply and--wait, why were so many trucks driving past on a suburban street?

 

Just as the thought ran through Judith's mind there was the sound of a loud impact from the front door.


	81. Chapter 81

Their first glimpse of the city of Vancouver seemed smaller than their first sight of Montreal a month ago, but it still shone just as brightly as Asami drove them down from Squamish. It stood stark against the sea, and Korra was struck at how many of the cities of this place lived next to the water like this. Republic City was the largest metropolis built in a bay back home, in the Earth Kingdom most of their cities were deep inland and all that she had heard of the Fire Nation said it was similar. The shores were home to towns and villages, and moderate industry for shipping and fishing, but it did not seem to draw the massive conglomerations that joined together to form CITIES. Only the Water Tribe, which lived on the ice and the sea, seemed comfortable to build up so heavily, and their very nature meant that they were not as dense or as large as the vast, sprawling territories of the Earth Kingdom. Here, though, it seemed like every city they had come to was built halfway into the water. In addition to the strangely familiar sections they found within them (They had learned that these places were called "Chinatown", although how they were all named the same still required some explanation), it was a nice commonality with Korra's southern home.

 

As they rode into the city, Korra's arms wrapped tightly around Asami and leaning into her back, they both again felt the enveloping warmth that came from the bustle and energy of so many people living together. Slowly coasting to a stop, Asami looked around at the city and leaned back into Korra to ask, "What do you want to see first?"

 

Korra, however, was one to focus on the immediate priorities instead of the grand exploration. "Food first, then exploration" and she pointed to what looked like a small restaurant off to the side of where they were idling.

 

Asami might have protested (They had only left Squamish two hours ago, surely they had more time before they stopped for lunch), but Korra's comedically-timed stomach growl, which was echoed by her own, preempted any argument she might have made. "Food first it is."

 

* * *

 

 

Asami made sure to keep her voice steady and quiet so as to not draw any attention, but as they ate she nodded towards the TV set up off to the side of the small sandwich shop. "Korra, it's us again."

 

Displayed were the same original pictures that all of the news programs had displayed of them, taken up at the military base at the North Pole after they had first been rescued, as the newspeople continued to talk about them. They had both expected the story to disappear weeks ago after they had escaped Montreal and evaded all pursuit, but the sightings and reports from people they encountered along the road had seemed to keep the fascination alive. Now, beneath the two profile images, was a video that they had come to recognize as a cell-phone recording. It was indistinct and very jerky, as all such recordings seemed to be, but they identified the club that had caught on fire when they were there days ago. The view was from the street in front of the club, and smoke was still swirling around, but the camera was aimed towards the roof and two distant figures could be made out atop the building, moving in blurs before vanishing. As the recording finished, it disappeared from the screen and commentary began.

 

" _...we have still not received any official comment on this recording, nor the other reported instances that have come in steadily over the past month, but witnesses and our analysts have identified these two persons as the same women which were the subject of an intense manhunt by the Montreal Police Service and the Quebec Provincial Police this past September. Despite early reports that they were wanted for terrorist activities or associations, there has been no confirmation of these accusations, with Assistant Director Verignon of the Montreal Service merely saying that they were 'wanted for questioning in relation to confidential matters'. Sources within both services, along with the Security Intelligence Servce, have stated that the search is ongoing without further explanation. Initial fears that these two were the cause of this fire have been refuted by the Prince George Fire Department, which has stated that the fire was caused by the improper extinguishing of a kerosene lantern by a club patron. According to witnesses on the scene, the women, whom authorities have identified only as 'Korra' and 'Asami Sato', were instrumental in helping trapped club-goers escape from the fire, and might have also extinguished the flames themselves. Exactly how they accomplished this, or how this relates to extensive structural damage to the building that does not seem to have been caused by the fire itself, has not been revealed..._ "

 

"At least they're not calling us 'terrorists' anymore," Korra said, as she watched the screen from the corner of her eye. Both she and Asami made sure not to turn around and watch directly, or do anything else to indicate they were unduly focused on the news, but they were watching intently nonetheless.

 

"Maybe they're finally going to realize we've been helping people." Asami's tone was almost hopeful.

 

"I don't think it matters at this point; even if they believe that we're not here to hurt anybody they're still not going to just let us go." Korra's tone, surprisingly, held almost no vitriol as she spoke; it was a simple statement of fact.

 

"I know," Asami said, "but I wasn't thinking about their government. I remember how Janice looked when she saw our pictures on the TV, she was scared of us. I'm sure everybody in _Ville de Moores_ felt the same way once they saw the news. I don't want everybody we've met to think we were villains just using them."

 

"I'm sure they don't, they probably think....okay, I don't know what they're actually thinking, but I'm sure it's not that." Asami cracked a small smile at Korra's reassurance, and she did not disagree.

 

"I hope so, and these stories should help. If only--oh, what's this?" The news program had since switched over to a commercial, but the advertisement (For _coffee_ again. Honestly, why was this world so obssessed with that beverage?) had come to an abrupt end as the words 'Special Report' flashed upon the screen. An instant later the two news presenters were back.

 

"... _to follow up from the last story before we cut to commercial, there has been a new development. We go now...._ " The scene soon shifted, and instead of the newsroom it showed a woman standing on a street, down the block from what looked like...

 

"Korra, is that Tapeesa's house?" Asami was staring directly at the screen now, but several other of the patrons had glanced up at the 'Special Report' as well and took no notice of her.

 

".... _I'm standing now on location in Squamish, where less than an hour ago police services took into custody two women suspected of aiding the two fugitives, Korra and Aami Sato, who have evaded pursuit efforts for over a month now. Judith Moon, a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Tapeesa Aippaq were apprehended at a house just down the street by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who were operating on intelligence that the two had been in recent contact with the wanted suspects. Though the fugitives were not found on the premises, the RCMP apparently does believe them to be close by, and they have begun a search of the surrounding area. We have not yet been granted access to the property, as the entire area has been cordoned off during the operation, however we have obtained exclusive access to home-made footage taken of the operation_..."

 

The view changed to another one of those ubiqutious cell-phone videos, which seemed to be placed in a house down the block and aimed out of a window. As it started there were already several large vehicles positioned on the street, and armed men could be seen moving around the ground. A voice, presumably the camera's owner, could be heard excitedly commenting on the view, and then screeching when there was a very loud noise and the visible men could be seen scurrying about. The entire recording was shoddy and had no real concrete information, but it conveyed enough.

 

"... _thank you Diane_..." the view had changed back to the newsroom now, "...we _go now to an RCMP press conference, where we have been told that they will be commenting on this operation..."_

 

The setting changed again, and Korra and Asami would have had trouble keeping up if they had not been so focused on the report. Now the image was of several people in uniforms standing atop a stage in front of several microphones. Many of them were in the uniforms they had learned belonged to police forces in Canada, but one of them instead wore a uniform of the style that the soldiers had worn in the base at the North Pole. The man in front spoke at length about the logistics of what had had happened, then gestured to the man who wore the uniform of the Air Force.

 

"... _the two women are currently in custody and are being transported to CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, where they will be remanded to the custody of the Royal Canadian Air Force. I now turn over the podium to Major Gregory Harrison of the RCAF, who will make additional comments_..."

 

"... _Thank you, Chief Superintendant..._ "

 

Korra and Asami continued to watch the rest of the news broadcast with rapt attention, not speaking. Asami had pulled out a small notepad and begun writing during the presentation, making note of all the information she could. Once the 'Special Report' concluded, after several more switches back to the newsroom and the reporter down the street from Tapeesa's house, they very quietly and calmly paid their fare for the lunch and returned to their motorcycle. They walked at an easy pace, again making sure not to attract any untoward attention or stand out in any way, but they walked directly and determinedly, and they both had the same set look on their faces.

 

When they reached their motorcycle, Asami absentmindedly stroking the glove tucked through her belt and Korra running her fingers over the metal cases set on each hip, they quickly mounted the bike and set off down the city streets.


	82. Chapter 82

Sitting close beside the fire, which they had lit for the light and to combat the cooling fall air, Korra looked over to where Asami was hunched over one of the new bolos she had been working on. "How's it coming?" she asked.

 

"Going well," was the focused reply, Aami's head not rising from the device in her lap, "I should have this one ready within the hour, and we've got plenty of power for all of them."

 

"How many is that now?"

 

"Six total, including the four I made last week. Even without a live test of the concept they're all working, they should be fine." Instead of taking her hands off the equipment to gesture, she nodded her head towards where five other bolos were stretched out on the ground next to the fire, all connected by power cables to a larger device which was hooked up to the motorcycle itself.

 

"Six? Six is good. Anything else new you've whipped up today?" Ever since they had left the Vancouver city limits Asami had been busy creating whatever arsenal she could out of the equipment they had on hand. Next to the bolos lay the various other equipment they had already completed.

 

"I've got some ideas based on some of what I've seen the police use here, but I'm not sure if we have the supplies. I'm going to finish up what I can actually get working, then start experimenting."

 

"Okay, let me know if you need anything." Korra turned back to her own supplies, unspooling out her metalbending cables to check for flaws or corrosion, and making sure that the casing and coils were oiled and polished. She was still ginger with them, hesitant with the electricity sources that Asami had installed several weeks ago, but so far they had worked absolutely perfectly. She had gotten the idea from the way that Amon's Lieutenant had used Lin's own cables against her to electrocute her from a distance so many years ago, and Asami had been more than eager to give her the ability. She had so far only used it on one actual person, the third gunman who had walked into the store several weeks ago when they had stopped the robbery, but it had proved effective at immobilizing him quickly after a shaking had not had the desired effect. Hopefully it would allow them to disable people too quickly for them to alert anybody else, and also without needing to fling them around with bone-crushing force and making impossible-to-miss noises.

 

She was still re-spooling her right holster when she felt something brush against her back, and she had already begun to swing the cable around when she realized that it was Asami.

 

"Whoa, I didn't mean to startle you." Asami held up her hands in mock surrender, then finished sitting down next to her in front of the fire. "A little on edge?"

 

"Sorry, I was just...very focused and I didn't realize you were done already. I thought you said it would take you an hour?"

 

"It's _been_ an hour, you've been sitting here cleaning your cables the entire time."

 

"Have I?" Korra looked around and realized that the sun had indeed fully sunk past the horizon, going from dusky twilight to full night without her even noticing. "Uh....I was **really** very focused?"

 

Asami laughed and reached over, taking the cables out of Korra's hand and beginning to re-spool them herself. "I'm sure you were, but I haven't seen you _that_ 'really very focused' in quite a while. What's on your mind?"

 

Korra watched Asami work with the cables, her delicate fingers manipulating with smooth, confidant assurance, before she said "I was thinking about tomorrow night, and everything that will follow."

 

"Are you scared?" From most people Korra would have grown defensive at such a question, at the perceived insult, but she knew that Asami was legitimately asking. She had also been through enough that she did not feel the need to justify herself or her courage; they both knew that danger had to be approached with open eyes.

 

"No, I'm not scared. Not of the physical danger, at least. But things will change for us here." She hesitated, and she almost decided not to continue, but Asami just kept steadily working on the coils and let her come to her own resolution. "So far we've always been trying to get away from the military here, escaping and evading, always on the move, and by helping people along the way we've not looked like a threat except to the people **in** the military. To actually _attack_ them, and on their own territory....we're going to turn from 'unknown' to 'enemy' in anybody's mind that was still undecided. Their hunting is going to get even heavier, and they're going to be in a position to get to us, not following our trail days later from a blurry video posted on the internet that they're not even really sure is us. I know we were planning to go south soon anyway, but this will be different. They're going to be right at our heels."

 

Asami finally finished re-spooling the cable and set aside the holster after she checked its battery and electrical connections. "Do you think we should just leave now?"

 

"No." Despite Korra's worries, the denial was firm. "Joo Dee and Tapeesa.....they're in this position because of us, and we can't help just by leaving them. They already thought Joo Dee was helping us, after we actually spent several days living with Tapeesa they're never going to believe that they're not our partners in whatever they suspect us of doing. I just hope that this isn't even worse for them than doing nothing at all."

 

Asami let herself get lost in the flickering fire as Korra finished. "Tapeesa asked to come with us. Last night, as we were cleaning up from dinner, when I'm pretty sure Joo Dee was asking you the same thing. She hadn't thought it through at all, she was just imagining the fun and none of the hardship and...I talked her out of it, and most of what I said to convince her not to come with us is exactly what will happen after tomorrow. She will become a fugitive in her own land, hunted by her own government, and will need to survive with us on the road and in the wilderness. She doesn't even have the training that Joo Dee has had, and it's going to be extremely hard on her. But, unfortunately, this **is** the best path for them; with us they will have their freedom, opportunity for new lives. If we were to abandon them they wouldn't even have that; they can't even curry favor or leniency by giving the military information on _us_ , since they don't know anything that will be believed. So yes, we will be chased out of this nation, hounded like we haven't been hounded before, and it will be harder on them than it will ever be on us....but it's still the best way we can help them."

 

As the fire crackled and popped before them and the night insects began to sound their music, Korra reached over and wrapped her arm around Asami, drawing her against her side. They sat together under the stars, letting the firelight play across their faces, as they both considered the events that would dot the upcoming days.

 

"We'll reach Texada tomorrow afternoon, right? Then we can make our move tomorrow night."

 

"Tomorrow night." Asami echoed, and her voice was just as solid as Korra's had been as they continued to stare into the depths of the fire.


	83. Chapter 83

Korra and Asami stood on the western shore of Texada Island, silently waiting for the ferry from Powell River to round the northern tip of the island and head west to Comox. The sun had set more than an hour ago, and swathed in dark blue and black they crouched and did their best to be invisible against the Salish Sea. Nearly fifteen miles to the west lay the military base where Joo Dee and Tapeesa were being held, on Vancouver Island.

 

Getting to this location had proved surprisingly difficult, compounded by the initial confusion that came when they had realized that the city of Vancouver they had been in was not actually _on_ Vancouver Island (What Spirit-addled mind had named these locations? Was this another legacy of the different languages of the world?). It had taken them almost a day to reach this island from when they had set out after seeing the news broadcast, not including their stop at a library to gather what information they could on their destination. Compounding the difficulty were all of the waterways which stood in their way; many were traversed by ferries and other forms of transport, but they could not afford to take them, in all the many meanings of 'afford'. Not only were their funds nearing exhaustion (They had been forced to resort to out-and-out begging to fill their final tank of gas, receiving a very generous $10 from a kind family at a gas station earlier), but they had seen several indications of the widespread manhunt that the news program had mentioned. Roadblocks and inspections were set up throughout the region, and attempting to take any of the waterway crossings would have lead to detection. So, they had been forced to resort to lengthy detours in some instances, and Korra had used her bending to cross the others. They had reached the island a short while ago, arriving from Nelson Island to the east, and taken up their positions to wait for the concealment of darkness and the cover of the regular ferry crossing. The ferry traveling east from Comox had passed by more than half an hour ago, and according to the schedule the return from Powell River should be coming right....about.... _now_...

 

There. In the water to the north came the sounds and lights of the ferry, and Korra and Asami both prepared to unobtrusively join it. They made a final check of all their equipment that they carried, nodded to one another, then dashed forward and leapt into the water. They carried only what they would be using during the immediate rescue and its aftermath, leaving behind all their extraneous clothing, camping supplies, miscellaneous objects they had picked up on their travels....and their motorcycle. It had all been submerged in a cavern of rock in the event that they would be able to someday freely return to reclaim it, but for now they had to leave it all behind; they could not carry it with them and they did not wish to leave it to be picked apart by scavengers or the military. Of their personal and luxury items, only their necklaces, which had been removed and wrapped in soft cloth and stored, did they take with them.

 

As they leapt from the shore into the sea, Korra began to bend the water, catching them in an arced bowl that soon submerged them in a bubble of air. Holding beneath the surface, they began to move north at a pace faster than any swimmer until their coursed merged with ferry, sitting heavy in the water. As they approached, Asami grabbed Korra tightly and held on as she flicked her arm forward and her metalbending cables shot out, connecting with the hull of the ferry with a soft _thump_ and sealing tight as Korra pulled them in close. The waterbending around them condensed until it was just a a tiny layer of air, and then they were being pulled through the water by the ferry. If Korra could hold them close enough they should not be visible from any point on the surface and should not even create their own wake, being completely obscured by the ships large bulk. Hopefully the base did not have some other means of detection which could detect them nonetheless.

 

That was the critical problem they faced; of all the technology they had come to know in this world there was much they still did not understand, and they could not confidently prepare for that which they did not understand. TV had shown that the military had many amazing technologies which seemed nearly insurmountable, but it was hard to separate fact from fiction there. All they could do was be as careful as they could, countering everything they knew of, and hope that there was not some unpleasant surprise waiting from them just on the other side of the next turn. Now, as they clung to the ferry, they settled in to wait, as the rest of the crossing would take more than an hour.

 

They could not speak as they were, with their faces covered and each one sealed in small bubbles of air, but as the ferry pulled them along Asami leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Korra's, closing her eyes and resting together. Even through the cloth, the sensation of her warm skin helped settle Korra's focus, and she did her best to smile back with her eyes after they separated. As Korra had told Asami the night before, she was not scared of the physical danger that they were going to face; even with their technology she could not imagine the forces they were to face could possibly overawe Kuvira's colossal mechasuit which had stormed through Republic City. However, even though she was not scared she held an appreciation for the risks they were facing. Without bending of their own, and with so much of their technology based on metal which she could easily manipulate to her own ends, Korra could not imagine any of the soldiers standing against her or Asami's abilities. However, she also remembered just how _fast_ that bullet had moved, and they had learned that there were guns which could fire **hundreds** of them in a matter of seconds, along with bombs that could be detonated by nearby movement and missiles that could guide themselves to targets far away. It would only take a single instant of inattention or surprise for one of those weapons, or some other weapon that they had never heard of, to strike her or Asami down. So no, she was not scared, but just because she was not frightened did not mean she was blind to their dangers, and the simple contact offered by Asami was a welcome reassurance.

 

After what seemed like only minutes, Asami signaled that they would be approaching the shore of Vancouver Island (Korra had no idea how she managed to keep track of time accurately underwater, but trusted her when she said she could) and Korra detached the cable from the hull of the ferry. While it continued on its way to its dock, Korra and Asami began to sink further down in the water, dragged down by their weight of their metal and pushed down by Korra's waterbending. As they sank further and further away from the surface, Korra began to pull them south towards where the military base bordered the water, until they floated (She believed) just to the east of the base itself. She and Asami finally sank to the bottom, resting on the submerged earth far from the air above, and after they settled Korra took a step away from Asami (Difficult on the slippery, jumbled, cluttered surface). She took a moment to settle herself, getting used to the fundamentally strange feeling of standing on earth so far under water, then spread her legs wide and swept her arms up over her head. Beneath her, sand and dirt shifted until a circle rose up around the both of them, meeting over their heads in an earthen dome that quickly drained of water, leaving them standing in small cave on the bottom of the sea.

 

Korra lit a small flame so that they could see each other, and then they quickly reinspected all of their equipment to make sure that her waterbending had not leaked anywhere during their underwater voyage. While bad on general principles, it could have been critically damaging if any of their sensitive electronics had been damaged during their passage. After they had both determined that they remained clean and dry, they grinned and turned in the direction that, if they had kept their bearings and calculated correctly, would lead them towards the base where Joo Dee and Tapeesa were being held.

 

"Okay," Korra said, "Let's go."

 

Doing her best to displace as little earth as possible, to avoid creating any detectable tremors, shifts or noises, Korra began to tunnel down and to the west.


	84. Chapter 84

"Stop here," Asami whispered. Logically speaking she had no need to whisper, being hundreds of feet below the surface surrounded by tons of solid rock, but it felt appropriate. In the light of Korra's cupped fire she looked down at the printout they had taken from the library, an aerial view of the military base they had obtained from Google Maps (The ability to have an instantaneous look at any point of the Earth's surface was yet another facet of technology that had nearly flattened Asami when they discovered it, and proved immensely useful to them. She did, however, have to wonder at what malevolence could be enacted given the ease with which somebody could get detailed images of government and military installations). "If we've stayed on course, we should be somewhere in this area," and she gestured to the cluster of buildings just beside the airplane runways. It was a relatively large area she indicated, including almost a dozen structures and unoccupied grass as well, but navigating underground without even a precise starting point required them to work with such generalities.

　

Asami put away the paper and they both began a final check of all of their equipment, readying for their emergence from the ground. Asami pulled on her glove and made sure all of her new bolas were hanging freely from her belt, their quick-release clips firmly settled and charges all still marked as full. The pack on her back carried the additional equipment and weapons she had scrounged up. Her combat suit was not the full leather armor she had worn back home in their own world, but she had made due with the riding leathers they had obtained for the motorcycle, supplemented by additional padding. Her estimation of the efficacy of guns said that any amount of metal she could carry and still be able move would not be effective at stopping or deflecting a bullet, so she had decided to retain her full agility rather than weigh herself down with armor that would not have proved an asset in the first place. Korra, on the other hand, _had_ completed a full combat suit, or close enough to it. She was still not naturally versed enough in metalbending to be comfortable in a full-body outfit like those worn by Lin Beifong and the metalbending officers of the Republic City Police, but she had compromised and together they had turned out armor based on that worn by the non-metalbending members of the police, much like the one she herself had worn years ago when she had been coerced into joining Tarlokk's anti-Equalist task force. Armored over her joints and vital areas, connected by firm leathers, it provided her with additional protection and also gave her many more defensive and bending options. Everything had been painted a matte blue or black, with no metal left to shine in reflected light, and they should disappear against the night sky.

　

"Are you ready?" Korra asked, and she grinned at the determined nod Asami gave her in return. Moving together, they stood as close together as possible while Korra began to move them upward. However, instead of the normal firm earthbending motion to raise them up on a pillar of stone to the surface, Korra took what was much closer to a waterbending stance and began to move her arms upwards in wide, circular motions. Instead of a solid pillar, which would have set the ground shaking all around them and made the air echo with the rumble of granite, the earth about them seemed to flow like water. Drifting around and beneath them from above their heads, the rock shifted like sand and raised them in a bubble that caused no more noise than timid steps on soft dirt. As they got closer to the surface Korra's motions widened, and their progress slowed as the motion diffused even further, until even they could not hear the sounds of their own earthbending passage. Just before they broke the surface they crouched together, and then Korra opened the tiniest of gaps and stuck her head through, checking for an immediate threat.

　

They seemed clear; it looked like they had emerged between two buildings and next to a tennis court, and Korra widened the hole to clamber up through, pulling Asami after her. Once out, Korra re-sealed the gap, leaving nothing behind to indicate that the dirt had ever been disturbed, and they both dashed over to the side of the nearest building, crouched low. As they ran, Asami passed to Korra her glider staff, which she had carried since they leapt into the water since Korra would be performing constant, delicate bending. Crouched against the side of the building, they looked around to determine their next move.

　

This, unfortunately, was where their planning had been forced to become extremely vague. Despite the physical layout of the base which they had obtained from Google, they did not know which buildings performed which functions. Joo Dee and Tapeesa might have been on the other side of the very wall they lay against, or it might have been a shed storing old socks. Without an idea of where they would be held (Or, for that matter, which buildings held command officers, or served as barracks, or stored weapons, or coordinated base security), from here on out they would need to plan as they went. Korra did not possess the ability of the Beifongs to identify or locate people through earthbending, so they would need to search building by building until they stumbled across some kind of clue.

　

Looking towards the edge of the base, Asami saw the fenced perimeter and sentries presumably on guard, but not as many as would be found on a base back home. Likely they had electronic detection devices which had replaced the sheer number of people required to adequately guard the facility, which was both a benefit and a hindrance to them. The odds of them stumbling across a mass of soldiers at once was reduced significantly by a smaller physical presence, but they also would likely find themselves unable to reach or disable whoever was monitoring the devices. Pointing out what she had noticed to Korra, who nodded, Asami began to move along the side of the building they were crouched against, staying low. Rounding the corner of the building, they could see people moving in the distance, but so far did not seem to have been noticed themselves and quickly moved to the doorway. Half expecting a complicated electronic locking device, they were both relieved to find it had a simple handle and mechanical lock. Quickly, Korra opened the door and they dashed inside...to discover that the building actually _did_ hold old socks.

　

They were in the laundromat.

　

"Who the hell are you?"

　

A laundromat which was currently staffed and had several men and women in uniform staring at them in confusion.

 

* * *

 

They might have been confused, but they reacted quickly regardless. The two soldiers in front of them approached, while the one standing behind the counter was reaching across his desk for...something. Whether it was a weapon or phone or alarm key they could not afford to find out, and Korra extended her arm to grasp his arm with her cables, pulling him off his feet and over the counter. As he yelped in surprise, Asami darted forward and grabbed the nearer soldier, spinning around to flip him over her shoulder to crash into the woman next to him. They collapsed in a tangle of limbs, and before they could begin to extricate themselves Korra had tied all three of them together in the center of the floor. Glancing around, Asami noticed a security camera up in a corner of the room covering their area, and at a gesture Korra sent a metal cap to seal itself over the lens (They had decided beforehand not to destroy the cameras where possible; a signal loss would likely be noticed immediately, whereas a darkened screen might go unrecognized for a long time).

　

"Where are you holding Joo Dee Moon and Tapeesa Aippaq?" Korra loomed over the three soldiers they had tied up, and in her darkened metal armor she cast an imposing presence, even for those who did not know she was the avatar.

　

"I don't...what?" Confusion seemed to still reign on their faces, not fear or anger. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

　

"Answer me, where are you holding Joo Dee Moon and Tapeesa Aippaq?" As she spoke, Korra gripped one of the metal sections of her armor and peeled it off, sharpening it as she spoke until it glinted in her hand, razor sharp in front of their eyes.

　

"Hold on now, what the hell do you think you're doing? You can't...you can't come in here like this!" They were beginning to struggle now, but the metal cables held them tightly.

　

"Last time I will ask: Where are you holding Joo Dee Moon and Tapeesa Aippaq?" Korra leaned in closer, and beside her Asami held up her glove, letting the discharge points spark with electricity. They three bound prisoners flinched away when they saw that, but unfortunately did not offer any useful intelligence.

　

"I don't know what you're talking about," one of them shouted, while the other two sat in silence. Korra and Asami looked at each other, but they did not have time for a lengthy interrogation, every moment they remained in one place increased the chances of them being found. It was even possible that these three really had no idea, there were likely hundreds of people stationed here. Decisively, Asami wrenched open the door to what looked like a closet and Korra dragged them into it, binding them securely and covering their mouths as well to prevent them attracting attention. When the door was shut Korra bent the doorknob, locking them in, and then they turned and began exploring the building as rapidly as possible. It was small, and they completed their inspections quickly; nobody else present, and no indication of where Joo Dee and Tapeesa might be. Returning to where they had come in, they hesitated at the door to make sure nobody would see them leave and dashed outside. As they left, Korra removed the cap from the camera lens, leaving it with a view of an empty and undisturbed laundromat anteroom; if nobody had noticed the minutes when it was blacked out, who knew how long it might be before anybody would notice something amiss there?

　

Outside, they crouched low again and dashed off towards the next building.

 

* * *

　

This one proved to be some sort of recreation facility (Likely they had found themselves emerging on the section of the base dedicated to housing and non-operational facilities), and in one room they surprised close to a dozen soldiers in the midst of eating, watching TV, and engaging in numerous other such personal activities. Immediately in front of the door was a pool table, and almost before they could react Asami found a pool cue being swung at her head. Whether he had somehow known they were coming, or simply had reflexes _that fast_ , one of the players had launched himself at them, wielding his cue as a thin club. Fortunately, even surprised like that Asami was faster, and as she dipped beneath the swing she leaned in, pressing her glove against his chest. As the electricity arced through his body his muscles clenched, causing his back to flex and almost bow over backwards, and he sank to the floor.

　

As if that was a signal, the other soldiers present snapped into motion. None of them seemed to be armed, thankfully, but they all had makeshift weapons easily in hand, and came at Korra and Asami wielding whatever they could grab.

　

The first two, who had apparently been playing pool as well, were likewise carrying cues and swung them at Korra. Instead of dodging them as Asami had, Korra shifted her stance to take both blows on her armored pauldron, which left her positioned to raise both assailants off the ground with a burst of airbending and toss them against the near wall. Next to her, Asami had dodged a lunge wielding what looked like an eating knife, and had used the overextension to pull the wielder off-blanace, forcing him to the ground and dropping on top of him, placing her glove against his back to insure that he did not get up again. While she rose, she rolled to the side to avoid an attempted tackle as Korra took an airbending-assisted leap over the heads of the next onrushing group. Their determined pace seemed to stumble at the sight of her leaping over their heads, and they were unprepared for the large gust of wind that caught them from behind, propelling them forward and causing them to stumble and collide into an ungaingly pile. Over their shuffling forms, Korra's metalbending cables launched out to grab the two men moving in on Asami, pulling them both back and dumping them onto the pile she had just knocked down.

　

However, behind Korra, the one person present who had not joined in the attack had nearly reached a door at the other end of the room. Beyond that exit would doubtless be soldiers he could summon for help, perhaps a weapon to arm himself with, or some way of warning the rest of the base. Seeing his flight, Asami reached down and grabbed one of the bolas swinging from her belt, gauging the distance and letting fly at his back.

　

She had gotten the idea from the larger, MechaTank-launched weapons the Equalists had used during their uprising to capture several of the more powerful benders of Republic City. Composed of three weighted chords around a central discharge point, they could immobilize the arms or legs of their target while simulatneously delivering a disabling electric charge like the electric glove. If she had gotten the design correct, it would allow her to disable someone at throwing distance as effectively as if she had been able to reach them personally.

　

Now, it wrapped around the final soldier mere steps away from the exit, and he fell to the ground almost instantly under the arcing electricity.

　

"Well, I guess we can call that a successful test," she said, echoing Korra's words when she had first used the electricity function of her cables during that robbery several weeks ago.

　

Looking around at the piles of disabled soldiers, the still-conscious of whom Korra was at that moment binding together, Asami let out what might almost have been a theatrical sigh. "You know, it's not going to be as easy to fit all of them into a closet."

　

"In that case, we'll need to shove a little harder," and Asami could almost hear Korra's smile behind the words.

 

* * *

 

None of this group had had any concrete information, either, although one had seemed to imply that they were correct in their assumption that this was the non-operational section of the base. So, instead of continuing to root around the barracks and maintenance areas, Korra and Asami worked their way north towards where they hoped to find the detention areas, or somebody who could point them towards it. They had wound up leaving the group of soldiers trussed up in the same recreation room they had occupied, with all doors metalbent closed and the cameras covered. This added a new time pressure to their actions, as the odds of somebody trying to gain access to the rec room in the near future was much higher than somebody trying to force their way into that one closet in the laundromat, but they did not have the time to transport them somewhere more unobtrusive, not without using bending that would give them away in other fashions.

　

As they moved, creeping low and staying to the shadows to not be noticed by the personnel walking around the base, the increased foot traffic and other activity indicated that they were indeed making their way deeper into the critical areas of the installation. Reaching one building, which seemed to hold offices of some kind, they saw several small groups purposefully entering and leaving.

　

This looked promising.

　

Instead of entering through the front entrance, or the likely-suspect rear entrance, they worked their way around to the side, which had what seemed to be a disused doorway and hopefully led to an unotrusive corner where they could slip in unnoticed. Unfortunately, it had no windows or way to confirm where it lead, and as they had so far they had to simply trust to luck.

　

Pausing outside, Korra reached up and felt the knob, confirming that the door itself was locked. Concentrating, she moved the tumblers to allow the knob to rotate, and then cautiously pulled the door open.

　

Beyond, standing at the end of a hallway and staring directly at the doorway, were two clearly on-duty and attentive guards. On the positive hand, that supported the theory that they had reached a building of some importance. On the negative, these two were armed and prepared, and as Korra watched one was already reaching for his sidearm, while the other was beginning to press a large button that she was sure would inevitably sound an alarm throughout the facility.

　

And things had actually been going so well up until now.


	85. Chapter 85

In the back of her mind, Korra could not help but think ' _Tenzin would be proud of me_.'

　

There were a dozen different bending opportunities to directly disable the two soldiers down the hallway; a burst of airbending to knock them into the wall, or raising the ground beneath them with earthbending, or engulfing them in a cone of firebending. The problem was that they would each lead to detection in their own way; in the time it would take an attack of air or fire coming from Korra to travel down the hallway the alarm button would have been pushed, and earth would need to tear its way up through who-knew-how-much of the structure beneath them. So, instead of charging at them directly, Korra came at the issue from a different angle.

　

She reached forward to grasp at the air, drawing her arms back towards herself and _pulling_. Instead of sending wind _out_ from her body, she called it from down the hallway, behind the guards' backs. The guards themselves were standing less than a foot away from the far wall, there was not enough air behind them for the buffeting winds to do more than stagger them a step or two...but it was enough. As they re-settled themselves, the guard to the left was out of reach of the alarm button and the one to the right needed to re-position himself into a shooting stance. All told they would only be delayed by a few seconds, but like the force of the wind, that was enough.

　

With that extra few seconds of availability, Korra had time to reach out for her metalbending cables, sending both down the hallway and ensnaring the two guards. They were lifted off their feet, and then they both began to twitch in the air as Korra activated the electrical current. In seconds they had gone limp, breathing heavily in the grip of the metal cables, and Korra gently lowered them to the ground on the side of the hallway.

　

While Korra had been dealing with the soldiers, Asami was running forward, and as Korra was releasing them she took up a position immediately to the side of the door, her glove held up and ready at chest height. Neither of the soldiers had managed make any noises beyond some startled grunts and gasps, but if this was a heavily populated building somebody might have heard them regardless. She held her position, waiting, in case anybody came to investigate. Five seconds passed. Then ten. There were no shouts from beyond the door, no thuds from running feet or the sound of machinery, just the normal hum of foot traffic found in any occupied building. By all indications, they had gone unnoticed.

　

Slowly, Asami lowered her arm and turned back to Korra, who had likewise been facing the door in a ready stance. Nodding her head, Korra turned back to the two unconscious soldiers and began to tie them u---a harsh, ear-splitting alarm began ringing throughout the building. It seemed to come from all around them, filling their minds, and their heads instinctively jerked around, looking for the new threat.

　

Had somebody stumbled upon one of the soldiers they had already disabled? Had they been heard here after all? Were the covered cameras noticed? What had they missed?

　

"What did we miss?" Korra needed to shout to be heard over the sound of the alarm, and she frantically worked to get these two tied up out of the way before they had to move.

　

"I don't know, it might have been anything. Let's go, before they come rushing through here." Asami had turned back to the door, ready in case anybody burst through, spurred by the alarm.

　

"Ready," Korra announced, and ran up next to her at the end of the hallway

　

"I think we're in the middle of a hallway here, I've heard a lot of walking back and forth past this door. If we go through here we're going to be spotted by somebody, so we'll need to be fast."

　

"Left or right?" Korra reached behind her to one of the water skins hanging down from the back of her armor, drawing out a length and letting it settle over her right hand, holding her staff in her left.

　

"...right. If there are holding cells here they won't be near the front entrance, and neither will any important offices. We should head deeper in to find something."

　

"Okay. Get ready.... _now_." As soon as Korra spoke, Asami had opened the door and dashed out, turning right and leaning low and fast down the hallway. Korra followed her out barely a fraction of a second after her, turning left and facing down the other direction of the hallway. There were more than a dozen people scattered down its length, all walking with determined purpose at the sound of the alarm, and a few had already seen Asami and were calling out or raising their arms to point. Korra breathed deeply, then raised her staff over her head and swung it down across her body, arcing a gust of wind down the hallway. It caught loose paper, debris and people in its wake, knocking them over and dragging them further across the floor, clearing way down to its end. As soon as the wind dissipated, Korra stepped forward and raised her other hand, palm up and darting towards the far wall. The water she had pooled seemed to expand almost into gas, and then it settled down to the floor into a thin, perfectly even sheet of ice covering a huge swathe of the walkway. Almost before the ice had settled, Korra turned around and raced off after Asami, who was already far beyond the door they had exited from. Behind her, she could hear the mumbled curses, groans and confusion as people struggled to clamber back to their feet and keep their footing. Ahead of her, she saw several crumpled bodies lying motionless in Asami's wake, and she rushed to catch up and help clear their path to their next searching area.

　

* * *

　

"Lieutenant, give me something. Something I can take to Monke and General Saint-Amand on your behalf. _Anything_."

　

"I've given you everything you need, sir."

　

"This? I've read the entire report, and you know as well as I do what's going to happen if I pass it further up the chain. This isn't a civil arrest, you can't go for an insanity defense."

　

" _Insanity de--_ do you really think that's what going on?"

　

Major Gregory Harrison sat across the table from Lieutenant Judith Moon, and if one ignored the shackles on her hands and feet, the scene could almost have been mistaken for something other than an interrogation.

　

"What I think is going on is that this," and he held up the thick folder that contained Moon's full report that she had given, "reads like a script to a TV show. Everything you've said in your report tells me that you're delusional from what happened up at Station Alert, but you're sitting here, clear and lucid, so that tells me you're being deliberately obtuse, and **that** tells me that you're in deep in whatever's going on. So please, Judy, for old times' sake, give me _something_."

　

Judith closed her eyes and was tempted to lower her head and rest it on the table. It must have been nearing midnight, if it was not past it already, and her exhaustion (Physical and mental) was just about ready to bring on a headache. Major Harrison, on the other hand, still looked crisp and fresh across the table, as if he was ready to keep going for hours yet. She understood that well; the image to be presented when in uniform, holding yourself upright by solid determination and a direct objective, and the effect it had on your target to give off the impression of superhuman stamina and mental energy. She did not have that anymore, though; she had not yet been formally stripped of her rank or honors (That would wait until after the court-martial) but she was already out of her uniform, clad in unadorned dark pants and shirt. Much like what Korra and Asami had been given when they were first recovered.

　

"Sir, I have given you _everything_. My report is the direct and literal truth, I am not using metaphor or hyperbole to alter what actually happened or what they told me. I do not expect you to believe it, and in your position I know I wouldn't, but I'm not covering up anything. Korra and Asami are not agents of a foreign government or proscribed organization, they are not here to partake in subversive or terrorist acts, and I am not a part of any conspiracy coordinating with them."

　

Harrison eyed her, and leaned back slightly in his chair. Not much, not even enough to really call it 'relaxing' into the chair, but enough for her to notice. She had seen him make the same not-quite-relaxing motions when he had been a newly-minted Lieutenant himself so long ago, fresh out of BMOQ and feeling out his relationship with the senior sergeant under his command. It used to mean that he was seriously considering something, running through all the options from the beginning. He had always been fast, always re-analyzed things as they came in to make sure new data fit the current theories, and she hoped that maybe he would be open to the truth. She did not have **much** hope in that area (As she had said, even she would not have believed her story if she had not experienced it first hand. It sounded like transparent fantasy), but maybe...

　

"Lieutenant Moon," her hopes plummeted at the formal address, "I will submit your report, along with my recommendation that you undergo a full psychological evaluation. I wall also---what the hell?"

　

The sound of the base's intruder alarm suddenly burst into the room, and they both jerked in their seats at the abrupt interruption.

　

"Stay seated!" Harrison shouted, and then he was up and knocking on the door to the interrogation room, calling in one of the guards stationed outside. "Watch her!" he instructed, and then walked over to the phone linking the interrogation room to the commanding offices of the base. He did not, however, instantly call in, as undoubtedly there were dozens of other calls being placed at the same second all clamoring for information. Instead, he waited in almost-calm patience for the first minute to pass, then raised the handset and checked in.

　

From her seat, under the watchful eye of her guard, she had a view only of the back of Harrison's head, but she could still see his shoulders clench in what must have been frustration (Fear?), then force them to relax into a posture closer to normal. She could not make out the conversation itself, but his tone matched his posture; confusion and tension, mixed with some disbelief. After terse words back and forth, he hung up and turned back her and her guard, whom he spoke to quietly side-by-side, before sending him through the door to speak with the other guards. Outside their room, she could hear the sounds of running feet and shouted orders as hundreds of people were spurred into sudden activity. Distantly, she could intermittently hear other sounds that she could not quite place, soft noises that felt more like they were sensed through vibrations in the floor rather than the ear.

　

The guard came back, accompanied by another, and the took up position behind her, facing the doorway and....she realized that they were not just tense, they were _combat_ tense. She had felt the same way herself more than once and had learned to recognize it in others (She recalled, almost like it was from another life, that it was the way Korra and Asami had acted which had first activated her instincts that they were not simply two helpless girls); these men actually expected to find themselves in active combat in the immediate future.

　

"Sir, what--"

　

"Quiet," was the snapped reply from Major Harrison, who she saw had drawn his sidearm and was checking it over. "Who's attacking the base?"

　

" _What_?" She had half-risen out of her chair before she caught herself and lowered back down under his watchful stare. "I don't---" She was interrupted by a noise from elsewhere in the building, a loud _whump_ that sounded like nothing so much as a massive impact, as if a vehicle had driven into a wall. But it had come the interior of the building, not the exterior....

　

At the noise the three men with her tensed and turned back towards the doorway, crouching into prepared shooting stances. One of her guards was speaking into his radio, apparently receiving a running update, and a few seconds later he leaned over to whisper something to Harrison. He probably meant for it to be too quiet for her to hear, but she could make it out anyway: "They're in the next hallway."

　

As soon as he was finished speaking, almost like they were waiting for the moment, the sound of gunfire erupted immediately outside the door. The guards that had been left outside, certainly, firing on what sounded like full-automatic. Why were they on full auto? That was horrible fire discipline, it wasted ammunition, drastically reduced accuracy, and increased the odds of collateral damage, especially in a heavily occupied building like this one. They should not have panicked like that, unless....what if it was not panic? Whatever was out there had apparently already fought its way to the interior of the base, what if it merited such a mammoth fusillade?

　

She was about to turn to Harrison and ask him another question, try and decipher just what was going on, when the guards outside the door began to shout and curse and scream (Were those the sounds of injuries, or of surprise and fear?). At the same time there came more strange noises, sounds that put Judith in mind of a hurricane or flood instead of weapons fire, and then the floor beneath them shook viciously and it was silent outside the door.

　

The guards with her blanched and settled themselves (She saw the corporal to her right switch over to full-auto himself at a nod from the sergeant on her left, who kept his own rifle on semi-auto), and they and Harrison trained their weapons on the doorway and waited. There were very faint, muffled noises from outside that might have been anything from a soft voice to a footstep, and then...with a shriek of tearing metal, the door was torn out of its frame completely and disappeared into the hallway.


	86. Chapter 86

She had realized that, logically, the base intruders had to be Korra and Asami, but Judith could not restrain a jump in her chair as the door was ripped away, recoiling back from the harsh sight and noise. Impressively, neither the guards nor Major Harrison panicked when the door disappeared; she could see the corporal's finger twitch, but they all held their fire. She would not have been too surprised if they had started shooting (It certainly was not one of their own people tearing off doors), but the analytical portion of her mind which seemed to be cataloguing and collating all the data noted that they did not just start firing randomly at somebody they could not see, risking hitting one of their own compatriots in the hallway. Harrison began to make some kind of hand gesture, probably about to order one of the guards to a different firing position or to advance, but before he could make any concrete signals a figure burst through the doorway.

 

Again, Judith realized that it had to be either Korra or Asami (Probably Korra, the figure did not look tall enough to be Asami), but she would not have been able to make anything like a visual identification without that deduction. It looked like some kind of ninja, swathed from head to toe in dark cloth and wearing what looked like matte-painted armor, carrying several devices tied to its back, waist and legs. Even before the reveal of their bending on the plane Judith had recognized Korra and Asami as combat soldiers from the way they moved and carried themselves, but now this figure **looked** the part, like some kind of fantasy SpecOps soldier. It came through the doorway high, apparently in the middle of a rolling leap, and well above an expected entry height. The guards had to adjust their aim higher, and though it was only a fraction of a second it was long enough for the figure to make some kind of grasping gesture, and the weapons flew out of her guards' hands like they were tied to a string. She could hear Harrison saying something in surprise (Probably a curse of some sort, but it was unclear), and then the figure landed on the floor in front of the table she was sitting at. An instant later the sergeant bowled into it.

 

Judith had never served with him and actually had not even caught his name, but she took note of his quick reaction. No sooner had his rifle been jerked from his grasp than he had launched himself forward, leaning in to catch the figure in the chest with his shoulder and attempting to drive it down to the ground. The figure rode with the impact, turning its fall into a rolling grapple and pulling the sergeant down with it. As it hit the ground, it curled its legs up beneath it and leveraged the sergeant's body up. Instead of being thrown over the figure, however, the sergeant accepted the pressure and used it to repositon himself kneeling perpendicular to its torso, retaining his dominant position above the figure and reaching down for another grasp. The figure thrashed to the side and slid slightly out from beneath his body, then spun on the ground to take hold of the grasping hands and _pulling_ , overbalancing him and dragging him forward. He needed a brief moment to regain his balance and keep from falling flat onto his face, and in that moment the figure gestured and a gust of wind seemed to well up beneath the sergeant and carry him upward, forcing him up to the ceiling of the room. He did not impact very hard, but he squaked in surprise (Judith could not help but notice that it sounded surprisingly high-pitched, much different than what she would have expected from his performance) at the motion and then plummeted down towards the floor again. Another gust of wind seemed to catch him, so he did not hit the floor with bone-crushing force, and then a metal coil wrapped around his body and he spasmed before falling still.

 

Beside the clash between the sergeant and the intruder, a second shrouded figure had dashed into the room and leapt at the corporal. His reflexes were not as fast as the sergeant's had been, he was still looking after his stolen rifle, but were appropriate enough as he saw this other person coming towards him. He reached down and drew the knife set at his waist, and Judith recognized the Fairbairn-Sykes combat knife. He brought it up fast, striking at the hand that was reaching out seemingly to grab him, then moved in to press the attack after the hand was withdrawn. Unfortunately for him, after the figure withdrew its arm it ducked down and swept up its leg, knocking aside the hand holding the knife and darting forward to strike against his chest with an open palm. There was a electrical noise, and the corporal fell backwards to the ground. As he fell, Major Harrison swept in from the side, attempting to replicate the sergeant's take-down of the other figure, but this one saw him coming and rotated out of his path, laying its palm against his shoulder as he passed and dropping him to the floor.

 

Then the room was still.

 

For a frozen instant that stretched for hours Judith stared at these two anonymous figures. Despite knowing that they **had** to be Korra and Asami (Unless there were _other_ people out there who could perform these miraculous feats) covered as they were all she could see were faceless, dangerous beings that had just invaded a base of her own service. What might they have planned next? What were they thinking? Then the one wearing armor, whom Judith had deduced was Korra earlier, stepped forward and asked "Are you all right?"

 

At the familiar voice the intellectual knowledge became recognition, and she nodded.

 

"Let's get you out of here," Korra said, and she reached out to grasp the shackles around her wrists and legs. They came apart as if they were made of paper, and then she was free to stand up.

 

"What's going on? Why are you here?" She stretched as she spoke, working out the tension that had built up over the hours. Her exhaustion was a distant thing of the past now, replaced by surging adrenaline.

 

"To help you," Asami said, "we heard of your arrest from helping us. We could not abandon you after your kindness of the past days, especially since we are the cause of your troubles. We are here to rescue you and Tapeesa."

 

Judith had considered that Korra and Asami might have tried something like this after she had been arrested the day before, but she had not truly expected it, and especially not so soon. How had they found her? How had they gotten here? What were their--no, there was no time for these thoughts now. They had been detected and located here, there would be reinforcing soldiers here in moments, if they were not in the hallway already. Every moment of delay allowed for a larger mobilization, more preparation. She knew from her own experience that the base personnel could not let something like this just slide away. They needed to move fast.

 

But, if she did 'move fast', there would be no coming back from that. Only two days ago she had asked to go with them, but that was when she had just been under suspicion and had been swept aside by the higher brass. It would have been weeks before somebody tried to contact her and realized she was not at home, and they might never have gotten confirmation that she was even with Korra and Asami at all depending on what happened. Now, however, to actually be broken out of custody and flee with them...she would be branded a traitor (Literally), unable to ever return to any sort of life she had known, whether military or civilian. Staying here probably would not help matters, but it was _possible_ that she would be cleared; leaving would seal her own fate.

 

"Let's go," she said, and was the one to lead the way out of the interrogation room.

 

* * *

 

 

"Do you know where they're holding Tapeesa?" Korra asked as they ran out of Judith's interrogation room.

 

"Not specifically, no, but I can get us to the holding area." She frowned as Korra deliberately lengthened her stride to overtake the lead position, leaving her sandwiched between Korra and Asami as they ran. However, she did not say anything about it, instead saying "Down this hallway" and looking over the destruction immediately outside. Her eyes widened at the soldiers lying unconscious and restrained throughout the hallway, some bound by strips of metal, others sealed against the wall or ceiling by thick patches of ice. Pistols, rifles, knives and other combat equipment were scattered everywhere, broken into pieces in most cases and even bent to serve as the restraints around some soldiers. The walls were pitted and scored, marked with bullet holes in some places, punched with giant holes and long slices in others, with scorch marks and burns as well. The thought of what could have caused that kind of damage....Korra still ran in front of her, and she had no doubt at all as to what had caused this destruction.

 

She was about to shout a direction, pointing Korra down the intersection that would lead to the holding section, when two men rounded the intersection ahead of them. They were fully equipped and prepped, walking in one-two side-by-side step; they must have been part of the on-site security force who had been dispatched to either secure an area or scout for something. They were already readying to engage, she could recognize the posture and motions, and she was about to dive to the side out of their line of fire when Korra made that same grasping motion she had done after entering the holding cell. Their rifles were yanked out of their hands, the one on the right stumbling slightly as he was pulled along after it, and before they had a chance to make any further reaction Korra made a small hop forward and swept her arms up, catching them in a gust of air which knocked the two soldiers forward towards them, close enough for Asami to dive forward and render them both unconscious. The entire affair had taken only seconds, and Judith found herself staring in something approaching awe. Again.

 

She remembered how easily she had been taken out in the transport plane, and she had heard the news reports of evading the police cordon in Montreal, but it was still something else to see two armed and ready soldiers disabled so quickly and (Apparently) effortlessly. If these two had been hostile, had _wanted_ to hurt people, what could be done to stop them?

 

"This hallway leads directly to the base's holding facilities, where they're probably holding Tapeesa. It's going to be heavily guarded and sealed....uh, not that I expect that to be much of a problem for you."

 

Had Korra smiled? It was impossible to tell under her mask, but her eyes might have said so. She turned down the hallway, again leading the way while Asami carried up behind, with Judith in between. Every few moments Korra made a flicking motion with her hand, and Judith was about to ask why when she noticed a small bit of metal fly up and seal itself over the security camera they were passing. They were blidning the observation capabilities of the base, which was a logical move, and it showed just how much these two had learned about technology and its uses over the past months.

 

They stumbled into several other people along the way, some non-combat personnel on their way to an alert duty station or following some obscure protocol, and three more pairs of security officers, none of which offered any more difficulty than the first pair. After five minutes, Judith signalled them all to slow down.

 

"Around this corner is the entrance to the holding area. There will be a prepared guard here, and the doors will likely be sealed shut and under video monitoring. They'll be expecting you, they might be able to get a shot off before you can use your bending."

 

"Will there be anything flammable in this hallway before the sealed door?" Asami asked.

 

"Uh...flammable? No, there shouldn't be, but...why?" Judith looked in confusion as Asami reached into her pack and brought out what looked like a soda can that had been re-worked into....something. "What is that?"

 

"A metal-oxidant mix with an oxidizer. I believe you call it a 'flashbang'." Calmly, Asami manipulated the lid and then tossed it around the corner, then pulled Judith away from the edge after she had rocked back at her words. She was unprepared for the presence of a flashbang grenade, had not expected these two to have anything like it, and did not have time to prepare for its detonation before it went off. However, though she heard the _bang_ and saw the **flash** , they were both muted, subdued well below the threshold for disorientation. She was about to comment on the effectiveness of the device when she noticed that _everything_ seemed muted, and then she saw that Kora had her hand pointed towards her head and was waggling her fingers and...when Korra dropped her hand and leapt around the corner Judith's senses all returned to normal, and she realized that Korra had shielded her from the effects.

 

Around the corner she heard what sounded like falling water, roaring like a strongly rushing river, and then Korra called her forward. She was not used to following at the rear like this, but when she rounded the corner she saw five different soldiers all bound in ice against the wall, with Korra now facing the sealed barrier in front of them.

 

"Do you know what is beyond this door?"

 

"Not precisely, no, I was never stationed at the detention center here, I don't know their internal protocols."

 

"Okay." Korra turned back to the door and lay her hands flat against it, apparently feeling it with whatever senses she used for her bending. Beside her, Asami was looking over a piece of equipment that one of the guards had dropped and---there was a noise behind them.

 

Whirling around, Judith saw a full section round the corner behind them, and they had apparently expected to find them here as they were already dropping into firing positions. She shouted, a wild warning to Korra and Asami, and then dove to the side in the hopes of clearing the line of fire.

 

She was not fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's official, the unbroken streak of updates is broken. I'm sorry to you all, I just couldn't get a chapter up yesterday. I hope you can forgive me.


	87. Chapter 87

Korra had already begun to turn around when she heard Joo Dee's warning shout, and she completed the spin just in time to see her wild leap towards the cover of a small wall alcove. Down the hallway, more than half a dozen soldiers were preparing to fire, and it was apparent that Joo Dee would not reach shelter before the deadly shards of metal began flying down the hallway. Even as she reached out to grab their weapons with metalbending, Korra realized that it was already a fraction of a second too late; gunpowder ignited at the end of the hallway and bullets began to to roar at deadly velocity.

 

Korra and Asami had spent a lot of time discussing the mechanics of these weapons after Asami's initial inspection of the small revolver on the roadway to Montreal, and whatever possible defenses they could work up. Even now, despite knowing how they worked and understanding what was about to happen, Korra did not believe she would ever be able to react fast enough or precisely enough to work against an individual bullet in flight; they seemed to move almost instantaneously, faster than human thought or reflex. So, they had decided on a completely different approach.

 

Ever since Bolin had first showed her how to work in his modern style of earthbending, keeping light and loose almost like air- or waterbending despite its traditional solidity, she had experimented on combining other aspects of the bending arts. More than just their philosophies, but their physical movements as well, applying techniques and concepts from one style to a different elements. Now, instead of reaching ahead to bring each bullet to a stop, which would require her to be able to focus on objecs that seemed to move faster than thought itself, she drew up from beneath her, angling backwards over head and creating a metalbending _wave_ which arced up towards the ceiling. Instead of directly challenging the momentum of the bullets, which was enormous despite their small size (Asami had gone into the technical details, explaining it as equal to their mass multiplied by their velocity), she just adjusted their trajectory. Instead of needing to be used at exactly the instant of firing, it could be run continuously to catch a bullet that was infinitesimally faster or slower. It was a waterbending defense based on a technique Master Katara had shown her, if she timed it right she could get the shots to fly harmlesly overhead of all three of them, and she almost managed it.

　

Almost.

　

Joo Dee had been just barely too close to the shooters, and the bullets were too fast, and Korra felt herself jolt as she heard Joo Dee scream and fall to the ground amidst a spray of bright red. As the rest of the shots smashed into the ceiling and bypassed herself and Asami, Korra's vision flared and she looked up the hallway at the soldiers still firing down the long line. They had turned their full focus to Korra and Asami, advancing down the hallway under the cover of their own fire, and if they got much closer it might have been enough for them to defeat her bending defenses. When Korra heard Joo Dee's breathless, high-pitch whimper, however, she stepped towards _them_ , bringing her foot down in a heavy stomp as she did so and crossing her arms in front of her.

　

With a heavy rumble from far below, accompanied by a shaking of the walls and floor of the entire structure, eight pillars of rack erupted from the floor, ripping their way up through the many basement levels of the building. Emerging beneath the feet of the oncoming soldiers, they were hurled from the ground and smashed up against the ceiling, held in place by the crushing force. With only a little more pressure Korra could have squashed them flat as easily as if they were eight bugs, and she let the pressing force build and build until she could feel their muscles and bones straining back against the inexoreable pressure of rock. Just a little bit more, just a _little bit more_ , and....

　

Her straining muscles relaxed and the pressure eased, but only slightly, and she sturned to do what she could for Joo Dee.

　

Asami was already kneeling by her side, stemming the flow of blood and gingerly inspecting her wounds. "How is she?" Korra asked, voice filled with emotion.

　

"I've found two wounds so far, on her stomach and her right shoulder. There's a lot of bleeding, it looks like some of it's coming from her back so there might be other wounds there, and..." Asami wound down, and Korra quickly knelt down, drawing out one of her water skins as quickly as she could (This was the fourth skin she had emptied, she would only have one left after this). Calling up a healing waterbending, she leaned in as Asami backed away to give her room.

　

Looking down, Asami was struck by just _how much_ blood there was. No matter how much combat she saw, no matter how much injury or pain she experienced or witnessed, she had never grown used to the sight of life dripping out of another person. It spread and pooled on the ground until there was so much that you had to wonder how it had ever all fit inside a body in the first place, and she had to fight to keep from turning away and shutting her eyes. Korra's hands, enveloped in the glowing energy of healing waterbending, were resting over Joo Dee's stomach. When her hands moved minutely, Joo Dee emitted a tiny, breathles cry, as if trying to scream without any air left in her lungs, and Asami saw Korra twitch and have to fight against a recoil. She kept her healing in place, and Joo Dee's whimpers faded to silence.

　

"There....there's a lot of damage, more than I can fix in a short while. I can do some quick patching, but this needs time. And _lots_ of water." Korra had moved her hands up to the wound on Joo Dee's shoulder and begun to let the water seep in there. "I don't....I don't think I feel any metal in her, and these wounds....I think they go straight through. I'll need a healing tub to be able to do much and I do---"

　

In the middle of her sentence another pair of soldiers came around the corner from down the hallway, but these had apparently not expected to find them right here, as they hesitated for the briefest of moments. When they did, Asami darted forward; she had readied one of her bolas as soon as Korra began to work on the healing, and tossed it off-hand at one of the soldiers. He recoiled back and managed to avoid the knot, but the distraction allowed Asami to close in and grasp him with her gloved hand, rendering him unconscious. She spun to the next soldier, who had already stepped back and readied his weapon, and she leapt above his firing line and moved into a rolling sweep, taking his legs out from beneath him. He crashed to the floor with a loup _whoof_ of exhaled air, and she kicked his gun away before he could recover, then leaning in to shock him with the glove as well.

　

"Korra, more soldiers have to be on the way, we can't just stay here in the hallway. If we're going to go, we have to **go** , and if not...we have to get Joo Dee help. They have doctors here, they can do much even without waterbending."

　

Korra was silent, head bowed as she leaned over Joo Dee's body and kept shifting her water around, and Asami thought that she might have been crying. "We came here to help her, and if the doctors here can help her more than we can..." However, as she stepped over, raising her hand to rest it on Korra's shoulder, Korra's head came up and the hallway was bathed in a sudden pearly white light.

　

"No," Korra said, and there was a depth and weight to her voice that Asami had heard only so very rarely in all the years that she had known the Avatar. Korra stood up and gestured minutely, barely enough to cause a water ripple in most circumstances, and Joo Dee's body rose into the air. To Asami's eyes it seemed like she was being lifted by a plane of water beneath her that looked as solid as metal, but which had not frozen into ice. Turning to the door which lead to the prison area of this base, and which she had been inspecting when the soldiers that shot Joo Dee had arrived, she raised her arm and pointed at it. It did not fly off the frame or slam to the ground, instead if _crumpled_ , compressing into a ball the size of a melon and then rocketing down the hallway beyond at a speed that must have rivalled the bullets of this world. There was a distant _boom_ , a sound that struck Asami's ears like the crash of a satomobile, and then Korra began to walk down the hallway after it, still emitting that shining light and with Joo Dee's body trailing behind.

　

"We are here to save Joo Dee and Tapeesa," she said, and Asami nodded her head and followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yowza, I noticed after posting that we crossed the 150,000 word mark on this chapter. Hurrah!
> 
> Also, for the curious, the 'wave' metalbending defense is based on a waterbending move Master Pakku used while fighting Katara in "The Waterbending Master". She was running at him and he erected a ramp of ice that she slid up and over his head; he didn't knock her down or hit her back, just redirected her (Which is the essence of waterbending).
> 
> The rock pillars up to the ceiling is based on a move Toph performed while invading the palace during "The Earth King".


	88. Chapter 88

From the moment that alarms had begun blaring, Tapeesa was curled up on her bed, staring at the locked door in front of her in a state approaching panic.  There had been noises and vibrations echoing down from elsewhere in the building that she could not identify, and then there were huge sounds of impact  that sounded like the building itself collapsing, punctuated by what even she could recognize as gunfire.  Just a few minutes ago there had been what sounded like an explosion nearby, and then more gunfire that felt disturbingly close.  Whatever was going on, it was coming towards her.

 

Was it a foreign attack?  Terrorists?  Was it (She hoped desperately, but she knew futilely) some sort of drill or exercise?

 

There were noises immediately outside her door now, more sounds that she could not identify; it sounded like roaring winds and flooding water, but that did not make any sense inside a building.  She crawled back until her back pressed up against the far wall, trying to put as much distance between herself and the door as possible, but she did not turn her head away.  Her eyes were locked on the door, wide with anxiety and fear and consternation.  The mysterious noises had stopped, the hallway outside was quiet, and then she let out a yelp of startlement when her door just seemed to fold in on itself and vanish.  Standing in the door way was....for the first time, Tapeesa understood everything Judith had tried to explain to her about what she had seen in the wilds of Quebec.

 

Korra stood before her, suspended off the ground by what looked like a swirling column of air that encompassed her legs.  Fire flickered in and out of existence in a globe around her, too fast to track, and her eyes were shining bright white light.  The light looked like the cold grandeur of stars and the moon, and she had a  **presence** which was unlike anything Tapeesa had ever felt before.  She had been awed before by Korra's previous displays of bending and the thought that she had bonded with a  _tuurngait_ , but now....she averted her gaze, turning her face towards the wall and squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the tears.  The roar of the elements was nearly overpowering as Korra glided into her room, and it was all she could do to keep from throwing herself prostrate on the floor before the sight of what might very well have been Qailertetang, who controlled the weather, or Silap Inua, the air itself.

 

"Are you okay?"  The voice was....normal.  It did not reverberate with power or energy, but just had the normal strength and will of Asami, and Tapeesa turned her head to look up into warm, caring eyes.  They were small pools of green surrounded by an obscuring mask, but at that moment they were as identifiable and reassuring as if she had been holding a flashing sign above her head, and Tapeesa practically leapt forward to wrap her arms tightly around her body.  Behind Asami, Korra still hovered like a deity descended to earth, wreathed in fire and air and looking as untouchable as the sun itself, and Tapeesa clung to the soft, physical body in front of her as if to hold on to her very existence.  She forced back a sob, keeping as tight a reign on her emotions as she could, and she gasped out "Yes, I'm fine."

 

"Come, we must hurry," and Asami was already pulling her to her feet and heading towards the door, preceded by the imposing presence of the Avatar (Tapeesa finally realized what that title might imply).  Outside, the hallway was scarred and pitted and marked all along its length, and she saw several soldiers tied up and frozen within giant blocks of ice, and---

 

"Judy!" The name was almost unrecognizable, swallowed as it was by the sound of fear and shock and heartache, and Tapeesa fell to her knees beside Judith's still, bloody form lying on its bed of water.  She reached out to touch her, but drew back, unsure of what she could do.  "What happened?"  She could not have said if she was asking the human or the god which stood beside her, but she was asking  _somebody_.  Instead of answering, Asami stepped over and lay her hands on Tapeesa's shoulders, briefly squeezing before drawing her to her feet again.

 

"Be ready, there will be a lot happening soon."

 

"What are you going to do?"

 

Before Asami could answer, Korra moved forward until she was in the middle of the hallway, and she slowly rotated in place.  Her shining eyes moved up and down, and Tapeesa could tell that she was seeing more than just the walls around them, she was seeing everything else in the building, and the ground around it, and far off into the air.  She stopped, looking straight up into the ceiling above her, then raised her arms above her, and with a roar that seemed to smother all other sounds and drown out the air itself the building above them seemed to be blasted upwards on a column of wind so thick and strong as to be solid.  Seconds later there was a starlight shining down on where they stood, visible through the new lack of a roof, and then the wind rose again and Tapeesa felt another scream rise in her throat as all four of them were lifted up on beds of air, carried up and out of the building.  As they emerged into the night air, Tapeesa became conscious of all the myriad noises surrounding them that seemed to fill up the entire base; shouted orders and running boots and clanking machinery, and then the heavy, deep _thump_ helicopters.  Spinning as she was, she saw two helicopters hovering over the base and she knew that they could not help but see them, and with them floating in the air like this like a glowing target....were the helicopters armed?  Could missiles target Korra?  Was somebody on the ground below already aiming a canon at them?

 

As the two helicopters began to angle towards them, looming large in Tapeesa's vision, she realized that she began to hear what sounded like rushing water and she jumped (Or at least made such a motion) as what looked like a tidal wave seemed to fly through the air.  It came from the east, from the shore that she could see more than a mile distant, and it looked like nothing so much as a small sea that had decided to spend its evening in the sky.  Two streams shot out from the large mass and condensed around the rotors of the helicopters, solidifying to ice instantly, and they began to plummet towards the ground.  Giant pillars of rock shot up from the ground to catch them before they impacted, slowly lowering down, and then Korra's still-glowing visage turned to face her flying lake directly.  She raised her arm, and the entire mass of water expanded into a gaseous vapor that drifted down and covered the entire base, and much of the surrounding area, obscuring sight and sound and sealing off the four of them from the rest of the world.  Korra rotated in the air again, facing what Tapeesa thought might have been east again, and from below them she could hear what sounded like shifting rock racing forward, heading towards the shore.  As that sound was swallowed by the vapor, Korra rotated  _again_ , this time facing what Tapeesa thought was west, and all four of them began to be carried forward through the air.  In the all-obscuring fog she could not have said how far they moved, but the muffled sounds of the base began to grow fainter and fainter, and after a few minutes she felt solid ground beneath her again.  Before her, Korra's glow began to fade, and then she closed her eyes and she was human again.

 

Tapeesa wanted to fall to her knees, to kiss the ground beneath her feet and turn to Korra and Asami with questions, but instead she started walking, following the two strange women as they started to walk, with Judith still carried beside them on her bed of water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three days between updates? I feel so lackadaisical. I'll compensate by giving a new comic recommendation: _Sunstone_ by Stjepan Šejić.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Be warned, this is a Mature comic, but in the actual meaning of the word 'mature', i.e. intelligent and competent, not just porn. The entire comic is available for free on his DeviantArt page here: http://shiniez.deviantart.com/


	89. Chapter 89

"Wh....what are we going to do now?" Tapeesa's voice was thready, weak with exhaustion and tension and fear, but Korra could not spare the attention to respond to her. She knelt beside Joo Dee, who had been lain in a shallow depression in the ground to serve as a rude bath, and was holding a waterbending healing over her entire body. Joo Dee was still alive, and the quick patches Korra had worked into place during the escape itself had helped, but there was still so much damage ripped completely through her body, and Korra needed to work hard and fast. Not just to save her life, but also to save her body; already she was unsure if Joo Dee would retain full control of her arms and legs. She remembered her own time in her wheelchair and struggling with rehabilitation at the South Pole, how there had been times that she had wished that she had died facing Zaheer instead of having to suffer being trapped like that, and she focused even harder on the damage that spread out from Joo Dee's wounds.

 

Behind Korra, Asami watched over the healing and stepped over to Tapeesa. "Korra's going to do all she can to help Joo Dee, if we let her concentrate." She took Tapeesa's hand and pulled her away, over to a small hump in the ground to sit upon. "Come sit with me."

 

Tapeesa followed the pull without objection, but also without energy, letting herself be guided by Asami. She was silent for another minute, staring at Korra's hunched form next to the glowing water, before she asked again "What are we going to do now?"

 

"After Korra has healed Joo Dee," Asami said that part with firm confidence, as if the thought that Korra might fail had not even been considered, and she noticed Tapeesa sit up just a little bit straighter, "we can all talk about our specific plans, but we need to head south, to the United States of America. That had already been our eventual plan because of the coming winter, but now it needs to be immediate. From all we have learned, your government does not have the authority to pursue us in the United States, and if we travel properly they will not even know that we are there for a long time. After we have escaped the immediate pursuit we can all develop a more permanent plan, but Korra and I will probably travel across that country as we have travelled across Canada, and you and Joo Dee are welcome to join us."

 

Tapeesa was silent again, still staring at the healing glow (The water was swirling now, drawn by Korra's circular movements around Joo Dee's still body), and Asami wondered how she was handling this news. She had asked to join them before, true, but it had been all too easy to talk her out of the idea once she had been made to realize the consequences of her request. Now those consequences had been forced upon her regardless, along with the violence of their escape and horror of Joo Dee's bloody body. Many people would not be able to handle being fugitives in a foreign land after everything that had already happened.

 

"How will you get to the States?" Her voice was still thready, but Tapeesa forced the question out.

 

"We looked at maps yesterday before we came here, this is the westernmost coast of your land." Asami gestured to the ocean expanse in front of them, vast and oppressive even in the gloom of the pre-dawn hours as it was glimpsed past the edge of the forest they were sheltered in. "Even with how large Canada is, here the border with the United States is very close to us to the south. We will build a boat for the ocean and travel down the coast until we reach the United States territory of Washington."

 

"Build a....Asami the army is going to find us here in hours most likely, we don't have time to build a boat."

 

Internally, Asami smiled at Tapeesa's objection: It showed that she was thinking and considering, not just sitting numbly. "It will be longer than you think for them to find us, but it will not take us long to build a boat anyway. Korra is from the Water Tribe, and that is more than just myths and legends, we will build a...what is your word? A dugout canoe." Asami reached to the side and ran her hand along the bark of one of the trees of the forest that swelled up around them. "These trees here are proper wood, and with her bending Korra can have one finished in hours. They are simple, but are sturdy and can travel far; back home, there are stories of the Water Tribe crossing the world in dugouts. Hopefully it will also be small enough not to be detected by your military once we are out to sea and away from their bases, and we should be able to make landfall on an open, unoccupied area of Washington territory. Out of reach of your government, and unknown by the government of that land, we should have the freedom we need."

 

In front of them, the glow coming from the healing waters seemed to increase, and Korra's arms began to move faster and faster, until they were almost a blur. The rapidity was like the movements Korra used during combat, and Asami felt herself grow concerned. She had never seen Korra need to work that urgently before; it looked like she was almost literally in a fight against the enemy of injury. Tapeesa, however, seemed to have a different reaction to the image.

 

"And Korra?" She asked, and her voice was now quiet, almost a whisper. "Will she....does she......again?"

 

Even without a fully-formed question, Asami knew what she was asking. "Tapeesa, Korra is the Avatar. She is the bridge between the Physical World and the Spirit World, and she has the responsibility of keeping balance in the world. That comes with power and responsibility greater than anything else in the world, but she is still Korra. She had that power when you first saw her last week, and when you let her stay in your house in a very kind gesture to two strangers. Who and what she is has not changed. I know how it feels to see it all for the first time, and I could not image what it would have been like for me to see it in a situation like you did, but she is still who she was. We are both still just looking for a way home to our own world, and now we are hoping to help you as much as we can, because you helped us."

 

Tapeesa was silent again, not saying anything, but Asami thought she saw her give a slight, small nod. Then, as if on cue, Korra let out a sudden, loud sigh and almost collapsed backwards. She fell onto her haunches, the healing glow disappearing at the same time, leaving them all sitting in the soft light of the stars. As Asami and Tapeesa both rose from their seats, Korra's tired voice called out "It's okay, come on over," and she held up a small flame to guide their way.

 

As they stood over Joo Dee, taking note of her solid skin again, unmarred by gaping wounds but still rough and discolored, Korra continued to speak. "She is...I think she is okay for now, she is not in danger from the injuries, but I am not sure how much damage has already been done that I was unable to get to in time. Until she wakes up I won't know for sure what lasting effects there will be, and there will be more work to do regardless."

 

"How long before she wakes up?" Tapeesa's voice was _still_ thready, still exhausted and angry and scared from all that had happened during the night, but she managed to address Korra directly. Asami was happy even for that.

 

"I am not sure. Several hours at least, but it might be much longer." She looked at Asami for a moment, then turned back to Tapeesa. "You should stay by her side until she does while me and Asami work on what is next." She lightly stomped her foot, and a section of earth raised out of the ground as a stool. Tapeesa did not even blink at the motion. "Let me know if she wakes up." Tapeesa nodded slightly and lowered herself onto the stool, then reached over and took Joo Dee's left hand in her own, cradling it.

 

Eying her for a moment, Korra and Asami both stepped away and backed several steps deeper into the forest, enough for the trees to give the illusion of privacy even though they were still within speaking distance. Once there, Korra almost fell into Asami, who caught her easily and held her tightly as she breathed in deep, heavy gasps that were almost sobs. It all combined into a clamorous whole; the physical and emotional exhaustion, the exertion of the rescue itself multiplied with the tiring healing efforts, even the simple lack of sleep (It was now only bare hours from dawn). With so much draining her she had worn herself almost to collapse and now....Asami was the only thing holding her up, and she was content just to let Asami hold her. The feel of Asami's arms wrapped around her, even through the layers of fabric and armor they both still wore, was like a rejuvenation, and after an infinite stillness her breathing slowly quieted. Still, they both remained motionless, bodies entwined, until Korra struggled to raise her head and leaned forward, brushing her lips against Asami.

 

It was not a strong or passionate kiss, Korra did not have the energy left for strength or passion, but it held all of the emotion that had been built up over the past day. They held each other and let all of the hope and fear and anger and excitement and horror rush out of them, until at the end it was just them. Asami tightened her embrace, pulling Korra closer, and the heat in the kiss began to rise. Soon, Korra's legs weakned even further, until they were almost completely limp and she was literally being supported by Asami's strength, and still she leaned into the kiss further and further. When they finally broke apart it was for them to each take a few short, deep, gasping breaths, and then they both collapsed together, falling to the ground side by side. Korra was nearly insensate, almost dead to the world except for the feel of Asami's lips against hers, and as her eyes closed and she finally felt consciousness slip away, she was aware only of the touch of Asami's skin against hers.


	90. Chapter 90

When she woke up, Korra noticed that the sun had already risen and she leapt to her feet in a surge of semi-panic. At least, she would have if she had not still been groggy and exhausted, instead slowly shambling upright as she tried to regain her bearings. Looking around she saw that Tapeesa was still sitting beside Joo Dee, cradling her hand, although her head had nodded to her chest and she might have fallen asleep sitting up. Korra was about to call out to her, to see how long she had been asleep, when she felt Asami's soft presence behind her.

 

"Don't worry, you only slept for a few hours, and there's been no sign that the military is getting close to searching this section of the coast yet." Asami's arms snaked around Korra's front, her head resting on Korra's shoulder. Korra closed her eyes, and for an instant she was able to shut out the world around her, and all that existed was the feel of Asami's soft cheek laying against her own. The exhaustion from the night before faded away, along with the apprehension of being located by the military, and she was able to lose herself in the silk of Asami's skin.

 

"You shouldn't have let me sleep, we can't afford the time."

 

"We can afford you dropping unconscious from exhaustion even less. You _needed_ to sleep, and since right now all four of us are relying on you to get us out of here a delay of a few hours is preferable to everything falling apart at a critical moment because you've been up for so long without even a break. Besides, if we're lucky they shouldn't be looking over here for hours yet anyway." Asami pulled away from Korra's back, lingering for a moment for a breath more contact, before she stood and extended her arm to pull Korra up as well.

 

"How long was it?" As she stood Korra glanced up at the sun, which looked to have risen above the horizon only recently.

 

"Five or six hours, sunrise was less than an hour ago. I did some check-work while you were out, so after you eat we can get to work right away."

 

"Show me, I can--"

 

"I said, we can get to work right away _after you eat_ ," and Asami had such a sternness to her words that Korra was unsure if she should laugh, or maybe salute. Unable to decide, she instead meekly followed Asami over to where they had piled what meagre supplies they had, drawing out a small packet of beef jerky and beginning to chew. It was **far** from what Korra would have preferred to eat, but at the moment it, along with a few energy bars and other dried foodstuffs, were all the food that they had on-hand. As a matter of fact, it was almost _everything_ that they had on-hand; they had the weapons and equipment they had used the night before, and a few odds and ends that they had managed to fit in their pockets and backpacks, and that was it. Everything else had had to be left behind, and once they arrived in the United States they would need to start over again, from food to equipment to even their transportation.

 

Well, they had forged a life here once, they could do it again.

 

After her meagre breakfast, which she managed to force down with enough water, Korra rose again and checked on Tapeesa and Joo Dee. As she had guessed, Tapeesa had in fact fallen asleep beside Joo Dee, and the two of them breathed almost in synchronization, hands clasped together. Rather than disturb her, Korra let Tapeesa alone and turned back to Asami.

 

"What do we have?"

 

"I marked off a suitable tree," Asami pointed back into the forest. "It should be large enough for all of us even if we need to lay out Joo Dee, and I've got what equipment we have to use ready."

 

"Show me the way," and Korra walked off after Asami into the forest. The tree she lead her to was not very far away, and Korra appreciated her selection. It was not the single tallest tree of the forest, which would have been a tempting choice for an inexperienced first-time selector, but instead looked to be slightly below average for its type, just above one-hundred and fifty feet in height and nearly five feet in diameter. Korra's metlabending cables and sections of the armor she had worn the night before, which she did not realize she was no longer wearing until she saw them (Asami must have taken them off her as she slept), were layed out next to the tree. Walking around it, Korra glanced over the tree, taking in its thick and corky bark and its brown, smooth shoots, then nodded. "You made a good choice, this should be perfect."

 

Asami grinned, then stepped back as Korra began to inspect the ground around its trunk in preparation for taking it down. Looking around to make sure that nobody had bizarrely snuck up in the past few minutes to be crushed by the tumbling tree, Korra braced herself low and took a traditional, steady earthbending stance. Holding herself firmly in place, her stance deepened and she reached low, pulling up and shifting the earth beneath the tree. The ground rumbled, and then the tree began to tilt as she uprooted it. More easily than she had expected the tree dropped to one side, and Korra raised up several pillars of earth to catch the tree and lower it towards the ground more slowly; she did not want to risk either being noticed by the sound of impact, or risk damaging the trunk they needed to use. As it settled to the ground, she noticed that it had a shallower root structure than she would have suspected from its size, but she quickly cast aside such trivialities as she and and Asami both moved forward to inspect the tree now that it was horizontal.

 

Korra picked up two of her former armor sections and molded them in her hands, combining them together and working them into a circular, bladed saw. Holding it out from between her hands, and waving Asami far away from the tree itself, she began to spin the blade until its toothed edges were only a blur, then began to methodically and one-by-one trim off the branches. While she worked, Asami eyed the tree itself, parsing out its size and shape in her mind, noting where they could carve up the trunk and angle it into a proper dugout. It should be thick enough for them to be able to flatten it for stability, and more than long enough to contain all of their equipment, with enough wood left over to shape needed accessories. They did not have anywhere near enough fabric to fashion any sort of sail, but Asami had several ideas that she wanted to try to 'catch' Korra's airbending for propulsion, and if none of those worked they could fall back on simple waterbending. It would be tiring moving the boat by brute force in such a way, even back home the Water Tribes only propelled crafts with waterbending for short durations or slow travel, but Korra could do it.

 

Together, they both began to shape the raw wood into the means of their escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for so long, ten days between updates was longer than I ever planned for there to be a gap. Hopefully we'll not kick up to that length again. But hey, at least we're getting closer to the gang traveling to the USA..... _OR ARE WE?!?!?!?!?_ Nah, we are........ _maybe_.....
> 
> Korra's bending circular saw at the end was inspired by Bolin's lava disc in the finale which he used to carve through metal hatches in Kuvira's giant mech, which proved that benders can move something fast enough for such mechanical work. The tree itself is a Douglas fir, native through the western coast of North America and commonly used for dugout canoes by many indigenous peoples.


	91. Chapter 91

"Are you ready?" Korra called, and Asami looked down at the ocean before them. It was rocky and treacherous, not suitable at all for a boat launch and concealing sharp promontories just beneath the surface ready to shatter their carved vessel with contemptuous ease, but she remembered Korra's grin when she had first pointed out the dangers. It had held her old confidence, bordering on cockiness, as she had smirked and said "This? This is nothing. Once we're out to sea I'll tell you about when I went ice dodging, now _that_ was risky navigating." Now, with Tapeesa sitting before her and Joo Dee laid down before _her_ , with her head resting in Tapeesa's lap, Asami nodded and called back "Yes, we're ready." With a sudden jerk, an acceleration as strong as if they had been hurled by a giant fist, the boat flew forward and dropped down into the sea, Korra crouched in the rear with her arms splayed wide.

 

They hit the surface with a splash and shock of impact, and then they were slaloming through the jutting rocks. Sea water was spraying up around them, flung off of the surrounding rocks by waves and hurled into the air by the boat's passage, and the wind began to roar through their hair and past their ears. It felt like they were moving at breakneck speed, even though intellectually Asami knew they could not have been moving anywhere close to the speeds of a racing satomobile, let alone one of the biplanes Future Industries produced. There was a visceral thrill to their motions, an excitement and electricity that reminded Asami of the thrum of a motorcycle's engine, and then behind her Korra began to sing.

 

Ever since they had first heard the music of this world at that festival so many weeks ago, they had been captivated by its energy. By its passion and speed and the way it could draw out the excitement of the audience. Janice had introduced them to some in the brief time they had had together, and they had continued to listen and explore as they had travelled across Canada after leaving Montreal. This song they had first heard a little more than a week after they left Montreal, just after they broken up that robbery at the store, and it had been different from what Janice's band had played, but also very much the same. It was apparently something called 'classic rock' ('Rock' apparently described **so much** of the music of this world, and how that one term could apply to such different styles of music was something that they still did not understand), and right now Korra singing was incongruous, and it came out of nowhere, but it was also so eminently _right_ given the situation.

 

" _We come from the land of the ice and snow,_

_From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow;_

_The hammer of the gods,_

_will drive our ships to new lands;_

_To fight the horde,_

_And sing and cry,_

_Valhalla, I am coming._ "

 

When they had first heard these lyrics, Korra and Asami had thought that the song was _about_ them. Somehow, it had seemed to speak to them and their journey to this world. They had gone to a library and researched its origins, and they learned that it was decades old and had its own connections to this world, but that did not remove the resonance the song had.

 

" _On we sweep, with threshing oar, our only goal will be the western shore._ "

 

Korra's singing was powerful, especially _now_ , and Asami began to join in.

 

" _We come from the land of the ice and snow,_

_From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow;_

_How soft your fields, so green,_

_can whisper tales of gore,_

_of how we calmed the tides of war,_

_We are your overlords._ "

 

Even more than the journey from the land of ice and snow, the talk of calming the tides of war had spoken to them both. They were now nearing the edge of the rock field along the shoreline, about to pass the last outcropping and reach the open ocean, and Korra began bend the water with more and more alacrity. Their speed increased, the spray kicking higher, and even though they were both still exhausted (Korra operating on less than six hours of sleep, Asami with none at all, and all after the physically and emotionally taxing rescue and escape), their voices reached a crescendo as they shouted out to the sky.

 

" _On we sweep, with threshing oar, our only goal will be the western shore;_

_So now you better stop, and rebuild all your ruins,_

_For peace and trust can win the day,_

_Despite of all your losing._ "

 

Their research had said that apparently there had been a moralistic backlash to this song and others by the band, accusations of corruption of youth and malevolent hidden meanings, but the meaning they found was one they both connected to after the struggles of the past few years: After all the loss of war, all the ruins of life and society, peace and trust _can_ win the day.

 

Tapeesa had turned around in her seat and was staring at them with mouth agape, looking as shocked as she had when she had seen Korra in the Avatar state, but they only laughed and shouted out to the sky again.

 

" _On we sweep, with threshing oar, our only goal will be the western shore_."

 

* * *

 

Hours later they _did_ sweep forward with threshing oars, carved from the same source as their boat itself and swept by Korra and Asami's strong arms, but they both grumbled that after tiring hours of steady progress they had lost a little bit of the magic that came from dodging rocks as you escaped into the sea.

 

Their dugout was nearly forty feet long, and Korra said that it could have taken them around the world if they needed it to, let alone the few hundred miles down the coastline they needed to go. Asami was not _quite_ as enthusiastic about its globetrotting prospects, especially without even something as rudimentary as a sail, but she was more than satisfied that it would suffice for their needs. They had loaded it with all of their equipment (What there was of it), and that still left them with ample room to lay out Joo Dee, and for their own sleeping when the time came. The rocking left much to be desired (They had not had time to equip it with outriggers or other equalizers), but they had managed to flatten the bottom for stability. Now they were paddling south-west, angling away from Canada's territory and the likely search area, and eventually they would angle south-east, towards the coastline of the United States of America. Their research, though much barer than they would have preferred (Until the had learned of Joo Dee and Tapeesa's imprisonment they had not planned for such a water-landing), indicated that this region of the nation was relatively sparsely populated, and they hoped to land unnoticed.

 

Now, though, exhaustion began to catch up to them, and Korra and Asami's strokes both began to grow shallower and shallower. Towards the bow, Tapeesa seemed to have fallen asleep, curled forward around Joo Dee's still-unconscious form despite the fact that the sun was high in the sky and that she had managed to gain even more sleep than Korra earlier in the day. Eying them, Korra and Asami stopped rowing by mutual silent accord, and Korra slid forward until she was pressed close against Asami.

 

"How do you think she'll handle it?" Asami asked, and if she was vague as to who she referred to by 'she', and even by 'it', Korra did not seem to be confused.

 

"It depends on how they handle each other. If they lend each other strength, help each other through what lies ahead, then hopefully that will be enough. If they don't...." Korra wound down, and even Asami was not sure if she did not know the answer, or simply did not want to say it aloud. Instead of pursuing the matter, however, she lay her oar down on the bottom of their boat and leaned back until she was resting against Korra, who supported most of her weight.

 

"Well then, until they both wake up and can work it all out, I guess we'll just have to be there for them ourselves. And in the meantime, _you_ had a luxurious, relaxing, decadent nap earlier today, and I do believe it is my turn." She closed her eyes and stretched in an exaggerated, mocking facsimile of somebody preparing for bed, but after her performance her eyes did not seem to want to open again. The sun was unobscured by clouds overhead, bathing them all in warmth, and Korra felt soft and welcoming beneath her, and suddenly all of the exhaustion from the past day caught up to her at once. With barely a murmur, her mimed sleep transformed into the real thing, and she relaxed completely into her Korra-bed.

 

Korra, for her part, felt the instant where Asami passed over to actual sleep, and she smiled down at the relaxed, suddenly peaceful face resting against her. Asami was always beautiful, that was a thought she had had countless times over the past few months, but right now, with her hair unwashed, with no cosmetics, and her mouth half-flattened against Korra's stomach, Korra felt that she had never looked more beautiful. Never. Not even in the red dress she had worn to Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding, or when they had seen one another in the buried dome of snow where they had finally said what they had needed to say. Here, now, was where Korra thought she would be content to stay forever, if only she would be able to keep looking upon her like this.

 

As Joo Dee, Tapeesa and Asami all slept, Korra reached her arm over the side of the boat and let it rest in the water, steadying the boat and gently propelling them forward on their course. Whatever it took, she would make sure they all reached their destination, and she would do all she could to help Joo Dee and Tapeesa make new lives for themselves, and Asami....whatever happened, she would be by Asami's side for the rest of her life. That she knew as bright and clear as the sun shining overhead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest, you cannot say that Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" isn't appropriate for a thousand different reasons. This wasn't even planned, I was just thinking about this chapter earlier today, about them launching out into the ocean, and the lyrics came unbidden. It **is** their story.
> 
> The dugout canoe they built is based on the _Orenda II_ , which was carved from a Douglas fir in 1978 and used to sail from Vancouver all the way to Hawaii (Albeit with an actual sail). 4,500 miles, just to prove that they _could_.


	92. Chapter 92

Distantly, Judith felt herself rocking back and forth. Gently and smoothly, endlessly. It was peaceful, despite the odd dreams that for some reason seemed to have a lot of Vikings in them, and if she had not already been dreaming she would have found it difficult to resist being lulled to sleep. The motions were soft and soothing, like floating on air.....or _falling_ through the air. Suddenly, the relaxing swinging transformed into treacherous freefall, and with a shriek of terror her eyes burst open and she began frantically clawing around her. Her left hand struck what seemed like hard wood, and she felt a solid surface beneath her, and then there were concerned eyes overhead looking down at her and a quiet, calming voice.

 

"It's okay, Judy, it's okay, it'll be alright.....sssshhhhhh....."

 

Tapeesa did not say anything more complicated than those simple reassurances, but just continued on in the same tender voice. When Tapeesa's words began to sink in, and Judith awoke enough to distinguish between her memory of plummeting towards the ground and the dream she had just emerged from, her thrashing moments slowed to stillness and she began to look about her at her surroundings. She was lying on her back with sky overhead and what looked like wooden walls around her, so she was not at any CFB facility or other detainment location. She was about to wonder how they had escaped, but then Korra and Asami came into her field of vision and it made sense.

 

"Wha....where are we? What happened?" The last thing she remembered clearly was her interrogation with Major Harrison, after that it was jumbled and unclear in places. Korra and Asami had broken into the room, there were flashes of fighting, she remembered hallways and alarms, and there was a bright, _vicious_ pain that seemed to swallow the world. Now, her voice was hoarse and dry, and the rocking sensation had not abated, despite emerging from her dream. "Where are we?" she repeated.

 

"It's okay, we're safe." Tapeesa's voice was not uncertain in the sense that she was lying, but it definitely held a note that she was unclear on how much even she could be certain on. "Korra and Asami got us out of the base and into the woods, and we haven't seen any kind of chase. We should be completely clear."

 

"But....what?" Her memories of the escape were not clearing up, and she did not understand how they could have eluded any kind of search. She had no trouble imagining the two women **destroying** a search, but how were they apparently not searched for at all? And what had happened to her? And why was---a sudden shock of cold water dropped on her face, salty and thick like sea water, and she spluttered as her train of thought was interrupted. "What the hell?" She reached down to press herself up into a sitting position, brushing aside Tapeesa's hands as she seemed to lean forward to assist, and let out a surprised grunt as instead of rising up into a sitting position, she instead leveraged herself onto her side.

 

Her right arm had not moved at all.

 

She stared at her arm in shock, willing it to move, to wave, to gesture, and was rewarded with nothing more than vague, aimless twitches of her fingers. It lay against the floor of the boat---they were on a _boat_?--and was almost as motionless and limp as if it had been separated from her body. Tapeesa was speaking again, trying to say _something_ , and Korra and Asami had both come over from where they had been sitting in the back, but all Judith could notice was the way a part of her body seemed to have died without letting the rest of her know.

 

* * *

 

 

"....and we launched the boat yesterday a short while before noon. There have been no problems with the journey so far, and our plan is to turn towards the coast tomorrow. Then, once we have landed in the Washington territory, we can form a new plan."

 

Judith was propped up against the side of the boat (Gunwale? Hull? Wall?) and stared with wide eyes as Korra finished retelling the story of the escape, assisted by Asami and even Tapeesa in some cases. Tapeesa sat next to her, on her _left_ side so she could hold her working hand tightly, and was staring at her with eyes that almost begged her to say something. To understand the situation, which was so clearly out of Tapeesa's control, and also to come to terms with what had happened.

 

What she asked was, "Why was there no pursuit?"

 

Korra and Asami looked at each other in minor confusion before Korra asked, "What?"

 

"You all said that after you got to the woods there was no pursuit at all. You even said you knew there wouldn't _be_ pursuit, at least not for a while. Why not?"

 

"They were impeded, and looking in the other direction," Korra replied. "After we had found Tapeesa and gotten out of the building itself, I sent an earth wave to the east all the way to the sea. It would have broken up the runways to prevent any airplanes from taking off, and the trail to the shore would have been very easy to follow. I am sure they sent some searchers to the west as well, but they must have put the focus of their efforts in that direction, following our path. With all of that, we knew it would be hours, if not days, before they began to search the forest a hundred miles in the direction opposite where they thought we were."

 

"You came up with that spur-of-the-moment?" There was a caustic edge to her tone, a sarcastic blade.

 

"No, that was our plan from the beginning if we had been detected during the rescue. We had hoped to be able to reach you quickly, before a general alarm was sounded, and had a different plan if that was the case, but we always knew we would likely be discovered sometime during the night. Even if we had managed to escape the base itself without detection, your absence could not have gone uncovered for long, so we had several different ideas for the aftermath."

 

"We always knew we would be unable to return to the mainland to the east, even if we had not been noticed at all that night." Asami leaned forward now, picking up where Korra had left off. "The police in the region were already alerted to us, travel was already being monitored, and we did not even have the money to refuel our motorcycle or a vehicle to carry four of us. To have tried to go that way would have only led to more conflict, more violence. The ocean was our only option."

 

Judith was silent, staring down at her motionless hand, and then there was a sudden, deep fear in her as she asked, "What about me?" Those three words contained almost everything she had been feeling ever since she had followed Asami out the hole in the side of the airplane. All of that fear and hurt and hope and reverence and anger and trauma, magnified and condensed into that singular moment as she looked at what might very well have simply been the first part of her body to pass away.

 

It was not Korra or Asami who responded to her, although they both opened their mouths to say _something_ , but Tapeesa who reached over and lay her hand against Judith's opposite cheek, softly turning her head to the side. Leaning in, she lay her lips against Judith's, whose eyes closed reflexively as her entire body relaxed into loose-limbered near-catatonia.

 

"You get better, and you stay with us, and we find some measure of life. Together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After my last chapter I figured that _somebody_ out there had to have made a whole bunch of "Immigrant Song" AMVs with Korra, it made too much perfect sense not to have happened. Surprisingly, it seems that it's apparently not as obvious to everybody else as it is to me. I found only a single one with Led Zeppelin's original song, although I did find three using the cover by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O from _The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo_. They're not bad, far from it, but they're very rapidly edited and not what I was personally envisioning (And truthfully, isn't **my** opinion exactly what videos are made for?). I was expecting large, sweeping shots of the North and South Poles interspersed with the titanic struggles of the show, matching the epicness of led Zeppelin and the old Norse with the modern-day mythology of Korra. Ah, well, they're still good.
> 
> The original, labelled as a promo for the Fire Ferrets, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCPv3R3JJ8Y
> 
> This one is "The Girl With the Avatar Tattoo," found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAm2sIaoGY4


	93. Chapter 93

"They started _singing_?" For the first time since she had awoken Judith's voice had not one iota of fear or depression or sorrow or hate, instead overflowing with shock bordering on ecstasy as Tapeesa described in detail the way their boat had launched the day before.

 

"Uh-huh, right out of the blue after we hit the water." Tapeesa glanced over her shoulder, to where Korra and Asami were sitting at the stern of the boat in their own conversation as they ate their lunch. "They sang it in English, but it must have been a Water Tribe myth or legend, it was about sailing away from home, propelled by gods and conquering new lands. It freaked me out at first."

 

"Oh my god......how were they?" She could not keep the curiosity out of her tone.

 

"Surprisingly good, especially considering the circumstances. Give them a backing band instead of an ocean and they'd probably be tearing up the charts."

 

Judith descended into a fit of laughter instead of any coherent response, overwhelmed by the bizarre mental image of these two strange women having a sing-a-long as they escaped from a military pursuit. The very concept was absurd, and she could not even speak through the deep, gasping bursts of humor that forced their way out of her throat. Instead of trying to fight it, she closed her eyes and curled in on herself, almost falling to her side as she shook. When her breathing finally calmed, and she reached up to wipe her tearing eyes and clear her vision, she noticed that Tapeesa was looking at her with a very focused expression. She felt the good humor fading away and was about to make some snappish, defensive remark, when Tapeesa softly said, "You look so beautiful when you laugh."

 

Whatever Judith had been about to say died on her lips and she looked away, down at her arm which they had tied up in a sling of cloth torn from Korra's ninja outfit. "I've hardly seen you laugh since you showed up at my door," Tapeesa continued, "I missed it."

 

"What has there been to laugh about? I was an emotionally traumatized mess that had been beached from the service and couldn't stand out in a strong wind without having a flashback, and even I couldn't be completely sure I wasn't delusional. Not much there for happy fun times. And now I'm...I'm...."

 

"Now you're _here_ , and that's all that matters. Right?" The forced cheer in Tapeesa's voice was painfully obvious, she was having her own difficulties in the situation, but the fact that she tried was enough to bring a small smile back to Judith's face. "Right," she agreed, and then reached over to a small wooden tray lying next to them, "so let's see what we've got for lunch."

 

Korra and Asami had brought it over earlier, before they had retreated for their own meal on the other side of the boat. It held several fish, all apparently cooked, and Judith realized that Korra had probably caught the fish herself and then cooked them with her bare hands, since their wooden boat did not have any fishing or kitchen facilities. There were also some pieces of dried beef jerky, and two large cups of water; the cups seemed to be stone, and the water was perfectly clear. As she drank, she thought that in all likelihood Korra had shaped the cups from the earth and collected the water as well. The meal was another reminder of just how alien, and how powerful, Korra and Asami were, but it was also reassuring. It might not have been extremely appetizing (Judith had never been overly fond of seafood, let alone unadorned fish accompanied by plain water), but with them literally adrift at sea these two women could draw food and water out of the environment around them. It made some of the other obstacles facing them seem a little more easily surmounted.

 

She was going to protest when Tapeesa began to separate her food for her, and made motions of even getting ready to feed her, but...why? If Tapeesa wanted to help, and since she _needed_ help at the moment, why fight her? Why make it another point of conflict? What would be gained from turning even a meal into some new argument? Instead she smiled, said "Thank you," and ate the (Truth be told, thoroughly revolting) fish that that was held out to her.

 

* * *

 

"You know, this fish is _thoroughly_ revolting."

 

Asami and Korra sat away from Joo Dee and Tapeesa, allowing them time to talk between themselves in the limited privacy available under the circumstances, and they ate their lunch composed of the fish that Korra had caught earlier in the day. Catching the fish had actually been even easier than hunting when they had been stuck in the forest after the first escape from the military; large schools of fish had swum by beneath their dugout, and Korra had been able to simply lift out several of their number through waterbending and deposited them right in the belly of the boat. Then they had cleaned and cooked them, suspended on makeshift metal stands and heated with firebending, until they had lunch and probably dinner as well. Unfortunately, as Asami had just said, their flavor left a lot to be desired. Whatever they were, they had an unpleasant, oily taste to them that made swallowing them a forceful chore.

 

"They're not _that_ bad. They taste almost like...." Korra stopped for another experimental bite, and after she grimaced and forced it down she continued, "....with a little salt, and maybe some sauce, they could almost be like se tu fish."

 

"Korra, you **hate** se tu."

 

"Well.....yeah, but it's a delicacy in some parts of the Earth Kingdom!"

　

"And the next time we're in the Earth Kingdom I'll make sure to bring some of these along and see how they enjoy them. But until then, I will stick with my previous thought: ugh." Asami took another nibble and visibly blanched, swallowing only with apparent effort and then taking a bite of beef jerky. "I never thought I'd be using dried meat as a _cleanser_ to wash out a taste."

　

Korra laughed, then almost gagged herself as she took bite. "All right, you win, it's horrible. That must be why there are schools this large coming right up to the boat, nobody else has been hungry enough to try and eat them before. But until we find something better, this is what we have." To reinforce her point, she made a show of taking a large (Well, normal-sized at least) bite and swallowing it promptly. "....maybe if we try and stew it?"

　

* * *

 

As night had fallen and Tapeesa and Korra had both fallen asleep, buried under what clothing they had (The air had begun to grow unpleasantly cold even before they went onto the open sea), Asami and Joo Dee remained awake to stare at the stars. Asami had stayed up to keep watch, since disaster could come in mere seconds if the boat was left completely untended, and Joo Dee....she had said that she had slept enough to last her for a good long while. Now, they both looked upwards at the vibrant, clear sky.

　

"I don't get to see the sky like this very often." Asami looked over at Joo Dee, who was still staring up and had not moved as she spoke. "I'm out in the middle of nowhere a lot, sure, but when you're on deployment you don't get a lot of time to stare up aimlessly. You're on duty at night, and when you're not on duty you're exhausted from when you _were_ on duty, and if by some miracle you've got the time _and_ the energy, it's often in places where you don't want to be seen outside, alone, not paying attention to what's happening around you. So, even when you're away from all the light pollution, you don't get to see _this_."

　

Joo Dee fell silent, and then began to move over towards Asami. Asami began to move herself, to help Joo Dee or meet her halfway, but her movements were aborted as they began as Joo Dee seemed _determined_ to make it over to her side of the boat. Her motions were awkward, hampered by her motionless arm and the jerky, tense spasms of her leg that seemed barely able to support her weight or propel her, but she clambered steadily across the space between them. She turned her head back up to the stars and settled into silence next to Asami.

　

"I do not get to see this as often as I would like, either, but that has changed since coming to your world. Republic City....back home it is much like the cities here, shining in light at night, although there are more areas of the wider world without lights and electricity than you have. When we would journey to the other nations I could escape the lights and see the stars, but I also always wanted to get back to the lights of my home. In your world, we spent much of our time on the road between towns, sleeping under the open sky and away from their lights, so our stars were always clear. Here, though, right now, might be the clearest it has ever been."

　

Asami reached up and gestured vaguely, pointing to various star groupings. "Your constellations are different from ours, but we have learned many of the patterns your world uses. We have also made up many of our own, to amuse ourselves and pass the time. Those," and she did her best to include a broadly sweeping line of dots, "point towards the north, and we called it the line home, pointing back to where we had come from."

　

She could almost hear Joo Dee's small smile as she said "I think most kids make up their own constellations at one point or another, even if it's just to pass the time. I think, when we were young, me and 'Saw said that _that_ group was two people dancing and...no, wait, it was _that_ group...or was it....I don't even remember, it's been so long." She was still smiling, but it had a sad tinge which Asami had seen far too often for her comfort. "So much of it's too long ago."

　

"Yes, much of it was long ago, but it does not need to _stay_ long ago." Joo Dee finally stopped looking upwards, turning her head now to face Asami. "Whatever happened long ago, Tapeesa is here now. You are here now. Whatever has passed, and whatever might come in the future, do not leave this moment. Live here, now, while you can, because if you do not....Korra and I lost three years ourselves. We will never get those three years back, no matter how much time we have together for the rest of our lives, all we can do is make sure that we do not lose _more_. Do not add to your own lost time."

　

Joo Dee was silent again as Asami finished, and turned her eyes back towards the night sky. After a while, although whether it was minutes or hours Asami could not have said, her breathing became the slow, steady breaths of sleep, and Asami gently lay her down and drew one of their makeshift blankets (This one made of her own obscuring fabric she had worn during the base invasion) over her torso.

　

Then, as the other three slept, Asami gently crawled over to where Korra lay and turned her gaze back up to the stars. She was waiting until the time was right to wake Korra for her own shift watch, and until then she basked in the light of the stars and the rising moon, and let her hand gently rest on Korra's shoulder. Even as Korra slept, she was sure to not lose any more time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty and sincerity, there was never a plan for Judith to be this constantly-damaged mess that had stuff piled and piled on her. It just grew out naturally from the story and now she's making Asami's life in the show look positively peachy.
> 
> Well, maybe things will look up for her in the future. We can hope, can't we?
> 
> I also didn't intend for her and Tapeesa to become the co-stars they currently are, since this is a _The Legend of Korra_ fanfic. I like to think they haven't overbalanced the story.


	94. Chapter 94

"There is a storm coming.  A big one."  Korra stood in the prow of the boat and looked up to the sky, which looked almost picturesque; clear blue with only a few wisps of white scattered on the distant horizon.  Beside her, Tapeesa glanced up in confusion, "The weather's perfect.  There isn't a cloud in sight."

 

"A storm is approaching from the west," Korra said again, turning around to face the others.  "We should try and make landfall as soon as possible, we don't want to be caught on the open sea."

 

Tapeesa and Judith still looked confused, but Asami had learned in their first week on the ice of the this new world to trust Korra's instincts when it came to weather.  They had already turned south-east earlier in the day, heading towards the western coast of land, but had been moving at a relatively leisurely pace.  They expected to make landfall in the next two or three days, after a total of four or five days at sea and several hundred miles from where they had first embarked on their boat, hopefully far beyond the authority and thoughts of the military they had escaped.  Now, though, with the threat of dangerous weather coming, they accelerated to make the journey as quickly as possible.  What few supplies they had were packed and secured, and then Korra made her way to the rear as Asami took an oar to the bow.

 

The stance Korra took was straight-backed, a bit more firmer looking than the usual waterbending stance, and she began to swing her arms around in large circles.  Her arms were fixed-straight with elbows unbent, rotating only at the shoulder for motion and looking oddly stiff compared to her usual forms, but as she swung the water beneath the boat began to churn and agitate, and then the boat launched forwards at a speed that outmatched anything they had achieved since they first launched.  The bow even began to elevate slightly as they planed over the sea, and they settled out into a straight-line course heading directly east towards the closest land.  Ocean spray was being knocked up behind them as they passed, and Tapeesa and Judith settled into the center of the boat to wait out the situation, huddling together for warmth and comfort.

 

"How are you feeling?" Tapeesa could hear the question only with difficulty over the sound of the wind and surf, and Judith had to shout to be understood.  After Tapeesa was sure that she had heard the question properly she did not respond right away, as she had been the one to be caring and comforting since Judith had first arrived at her doorway weeks ago.  First from everything that had happened with her and Korra and Asami originally, and then after she had woken up yesterday....for Judith to now be asking about  _her_ was new, and she had to consider before answering.

 

Intellectually, she knew that the situation as a whole was horrible.  They had quite literally been forced to flee the country in the dead of night, and likely would never be allowed to return home.  They were in immediate danger from an oncoming storm, and they would not have easy access to food or shelter after they landed.  Judith had been grievously hurt, and any kind of recovery would be long, painful and difficult.  Tapeesa had no preparation for anything like this, no history of wilderness survival or fighting, and she was terrified of the dangers they faced.  Asami had been absolutely correct when she had warned her off from following them the week before, this was not a life she was ready for.

 

However, despite all of that, behind her was a woman who still seemed like a demigod moving them across an ocean with magic, and in front of her, braced against the bow and standing ready for an emergency, was a woman whose calm beauty and mechanical genius were nearly jaw-dropping.  They were going off on an adventure together to see new lands (And Tapeesa had always wanted to travel to the United States, even if the plan had involved a tour guide and not a covert water landing) and, most importantly....she could feel Judith's body pressed against her, and in spite of her injuries and suffering she was not shaking or crying.  Even the critical doubt and fear from the day before seemed to have left, disappearing in the night, and she was relaxed into Tapeesa, letting herself rest instead of clawing with her one good arm to keep herself steady.  Determinedly, Tapeesa raised her arm and draped it around Judith's shoulders, pulling her closer.  Judith did not resist at all, but sank deeper into the embrace and snuggled against Tapeesa's side, laying herself almost flat and and sinking into her shoulder.

 

"I'm wonderful," Tapeesa finally said, and she closed her eyes.

 

* * *

 

Korra grinned slightly to herself as she saw Joo Dee and Tapeesa snuggle closer together, glad that they were at least doing better.  She remembered how she had forced everybody away so many years ago, even Asami when she had practically begged to come to the South Pole with her, and with everything else that had happened she felt relieved that Joo Dee was not making the same mistakes.  Whatever came next for them, and it would likely be a lot more hardship before it became pleasant, going through it with somebody else might make all the difference. A distant rumble of thunder, unfortunately, drew her attention away from happy consideration and back to their present circumstances.

 

As she had expected, a storm was moving down from the west despite how clear the sky had looked only a short while ago, and it did not look like they would be able to make landfall before it arrived.  Already the oceans swells were rising, harbinging even larger waves to come, and the beginning of heavy winds were starting to tug at them.  This was gong to be bad; the wind and waves in unison stood a very good chance of capsizing them, exacerbated by the rain itself.  She sped up her motions minutely to add on a little more speed, but could not go much faster than she already was without exhausting herself too soon for it to accomplish anything.  They would have to endure the storm, and she would need all her energy to do so.

 

It was a half-hour later that they felt the first rain drops, and Korra called out to everybody, "Get ready!"  By now the sky had darkened with thick, heavy clouds until it was almost like night, the sun blotted out and invisible behind the ominous overhang.  Minutes later it seemed as though a faucet had been opened, and the downpour began in overwhelming ernest.  As the rain itself became heavy, Korra slowed their forward motion and began to swirl her right arm across herself, redirecting the rain off to the side and keeping them and the interior of the boat dry.  Since she now knew they could not escape before the storm arrived, she transferred part of her efforts to keeping themselves afloat and as comfortable as could be.  Soon afterwards she had to halt their forward momentum almost completely, and focus solely on fighting the storm that seemed to be deliberately trying to turn them over.  So far, the interior of the boat was almost as dry as it had been before, but the attack of the elements was growing more and more strident.

 

A shouted voice in front of her nearly shocked Korra off her feet, and she realized that Asami had worked her way towards the back of the boat and was standing almost face-to-face.  Korra had been so focused on the storm that she had not even noticed when Asami had begun to move, and had to lean in to be able to hear what she had shouted.  Seeing her non-comprehension, Asami leaned forward as well and shouted again, "How is the storm progressing?"

 

Korra's first instinct was actually to snap back at Asami for such a ridiculous question.  Asami was  _in_ the storm, what did she need to ask that for? Was Korra just imagining the rain?  Was Asami choosing the most ridiculous moment to start an idle conversation about the weather?  Then Korra paused for a breath and realized that those were exactly valid points, and therefore Asami must have been referring to something more than the patently obvious, since she would not have risked being swept overboard to walk back at such a heaving moment.  Korra  looked up into the sky, which was still nearly black as pitch despite being only late afternoon, and did her best to cast about and get a sense for the depth and length of the storm.  She had never tried to do anything like it before, but sensing the air and water and the way it all cast about together.....

 

"Badly," she finally said to Asami, "I think this might be the remnant of a hurricane, and there's still a _lot_ of turbulence up there.  It's going to last for hours, maybe days."

 

"Can you keep up bending like this for that long?"  Not many people could have managed to sound so tender while screaming at the top of their lungs over booming thunder, but when she heard the question Korra wanted nothing so much as to bury herself in Asami at that moment and just listen to her speak.

 

"No, I don't think so."  As they had run into so often in this world, the problem was that even the Avatar was not an unlimited source of energy, and constant bending for days at a time would wear her down as much as any kind of physical wound.  When that happened, they would find themselves aboard an ill-equipped plank of wood at the complete mercy of the sea.

 

"Then we have to get to land first.  Focus on getting us moving in the right direction."

 

"It's not going to be an easy ride if I change focus like that," Korra nodded her head towards where Tapeesa and Joo Dee were still bunkered towards the center of the boat, shielding one another.  "Things will get even rougher."

 

"We don't have a choice, Korra.  If we're still out in this when you're exhausted, we'll never make it to shore at all.  I think it's better that we get tossed about now and survive than put it off for a few hours and founder completely."

 

Korra hesitated, just for long enough to run through the same chain of thoughts, then nodded.  "Warn Tapeesa and Joo Dee, then get down, I'll hold us steady until then."  Asami nodded in turn, then leaned forward and pulled Korra into a brief, tight hug. Korra could not halt her bending to hug her back, keeping her arms circling, but she did her very best to lean into the hug and send back her own feelings.  Then, Asami was cautiously picking her way back across the boat until she reached Tapeesa and Joo Dee.  She leaned over them, shouting words that Korra could not hear, and then all three of them were crouching even lower and grabbing whatever handholds they could.  Seeing that they were secure, Korra kept up her bendings for a few more moments to let them settle, then abandoned the waterbending that she was weaving over and around the boat.  As if a switch had been flipped, the rain suddenly began falling on top of them in what felt like a single solid sheet of water, pouring down directly on top of their heads.  They were all soaked through in seconds, and might have been swept from the boat if they had not been prepared, but Korra then redirected her energies and they shot off through the water again, even faster than they had been going before.  Korra poured all of her energies into the waterbending and their boat practically flew over the ocean, soaring towards the shore that they were all hoping was closer than they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra's propelling the boat with waterbending was based on the motions of the Swamp Benders from Foggy Swamp, who had a distinctly differently form and style than other waterbending. Korra likely had a rudimentary introduction during her training, especially since Katara had first-person experience. We never got a speedometer or anything, but their boats were shown moving faster than other bending-propelled boats, although I'm sure most of that came from the fact that the other boats we saw propelled by waterbending weren't going full-bore at the time (Princess Yue was being leisurely chauffeured, Appa/Fire Navy ships were being ambushed, etc.).


	95. Chapter 95

Asami bunkered down even further against the side of the boat, trying to find just a little bit more shelter from the rain that was thrashing against them with such ferocity it almost felt alive. She barely noticed the acceleration as Korra had begun to propel them forward, the sudden surge lost in the myriad motions as they were tossed about by the turbulent winds and ever-growing waves. Beside her, she saw Joo Dee and Tapeesa clinging to one another and the boat in desperation, both looking visibly miserable and already waterlogged. All things considered it was as suitably unpleasant an experience as could be expected, and she had no real options but to grit her teeth and bear it; without bending of her own she was as much at the mercy of the elements as Tapeesa and Joo Dee were, so all they could do was trust in Korra and wait it out. Trusting Korra came easy; the waiting, on the other hand.....

 

The boat seemed to leap into the air, lifted upwards as they crested a particularly large wave, and Asami briefly felt herself become weightless before they came crashing back down to the surface, and she could faintly hear Tapeesa's startled exclamation as she was knocked about. Moments later they were flung upwards again by another wave, and at the top of their arc Asami steeled herself and reared up from her crouch, looking out onto the ocean's surface.

 

The ocean had, if possible, grown even more frenzied. The surface heaved and bucked with such passion in some places that it seemed to impossible to tell where one wave ended and the next began, and in other places there seemed to be mountains of water that surged up and merged with the sky. She was able to catch only a single, frozen image in her mind before the boat crashed back down and she was nearly hurled off her feet by the force of the impact. She held on as tightly as she could grip, feeling the tension that stretched from the tips of her fingers up her arm and even down her back as her muscles struggled to keep her tethered to safety, and then the boat was surging upwards again atop the next wave.

 

Looking over her shoulder, Asami saw Korra continuing to manipulate the wind and waves. Her stance had deepened into something that looked almost like earthbending, a determination to **not** be moved, and her drastic ministrations reminded Asami of how she had looked when she had been healing Joo Dee on the shore several days ago. Like she was literally _fighting_ the wind and waves, challenging them with her determination, bending them (In all meanings of the word) to her will. As if she was claiming mastery over the weather itself and harnessing its fury and strength for the sake of the passengers huddling pitifully before her. Settling herself back down again, tight to the bottom of the boat to make sure she would not be tossed aside, Asami resigned herself to remaining prostrate and down while Korra fought the storm.

 

Behind Asami, Korra was desperately looking for some way _out_. They had been moving steadily east since she and Asami had spoken earlier, but with the interference of surf and tide even she was not sure of their exact course, nor how much they had been redirected north or south along the way. The chop was growing steadily worse and worse, and she had to focus more and more of her energy on stabilizing the boat instead of their forward momentum, and the ride was growing rougher regardless. The storm still showed no evidence of slacking, and-----was that the sound of surf crashing against a shore?

 

With so much rain and foam in the air visibility was limited to an area around the boat shorter than a strong throw, but there was a distant crash that _might_ have come from these violent waves collapsing in on themselves against the coastline. If it was, they were almost certainly close enough to reach the land, and in short order at that. If it was _not_ , then...rather than focus on the "if not", Korra grabbed hold of the glimmer of hope they had just been offered and looked up at the clouds which still swathed the sky from horizon to horizon. She had to know if they really were closing in on the shore, and so she had to be able to _see_ , and that meant that she had to cause a break in the storm, even if it was only for a few moments. She had no intention of trying to break the storm itself, at least not if she hoped to survive (She had heard stories that Avatar Kuruk had perished fighting a storm which threatened to overwhelm the Northern Water Tribe, merging so deeply into the Avatar State that his body had been left lifeless, although many regarded the story as just a legend), but to crack open a ray of light was a different matter entirely.

 

Centering herself, letting all of her waterbending efforts come to a halt and leaving the boat momentarily at complete mercy of the sea and storm, she closed her eyes and re-opened them with a powerful, vast glow. The ocean around the boat stopped almost instantly, the water and the air both holding in place until the surface was as smooth as glass, and they floated in an oasis of perfect calm, cut off from the wider storm as completely as if separated by an entire world. Then, when Asami, Tapeesa and Joo Dee had begun to look up in surprise to take in the sudden and complete motionlessness, she stepped forward and raised her left arm, extending and bringing it down in a continuous slicing motion that reached down to the bottom of the boat. Roaring out of her outstretched arm as she moved came a column of air stronger than any gust of wind from this storm, or any other. Like a focused tornado it tore at the clouds themselves and all the floating water in the air, cutting a swathe from their small boat and heading east as fast as a bolt of lightning, and as it passed it carried the storm with it. Behind it was a column of light, the dim light of twilight that still seemed infinitely brighter than the oppressive gloom of the storm clouds, which shone down through a gap in the storm as neatly divided as if it had been cut out with a knife. The light illuminated the ocean from the boat clear to the distant shoreline, and beneath the glow and power of the Avatar State Korra smiled as she saw that there _was_ the shoreline, close enough to be seen.

 

"Hold on!" she shouted to the three women in front of her, the first words she had spoken in what might have been hours, and then she dropped down until she was almost kneeling. She brought her hands together, then rose up and drew up water deeply beneath her as she did, arms splayed out widely and continuing to rise until she was standing on only a single firm leg. Behind them, the water she had drawn arose into a wave that swelled higher and higher. This was not a wave of the storm, but tide all on its own that rose up and swept forward, carrying the boat along with it and sweeping over all of the smaller mountains which seemed to rise to block their way. They were carried over the thrashing surf, barreling through the wind and rain without even taking note of its presence, riding on what seemed to be a wave made of a collection of all the waters of the sea.

 

Then, with a bone-shaking jar and a sound of impact that was audible even over the resurgent roar of the storm, their boat grounded against land and came to a halt. For a timeless instant they were all frozen in place, waiting as their boat continued to be rocked by the waves that were crashing against the shore, and then they burst into a flurry of motion, clambering out of the boat amidst shouts of joy and relief and gratitude as the storm continued to rage around them.

　

They found themselves on a beach, soaked sand which ran up to a treeline which they could blurily make out some distance away. There were no buildings or roads, no lights or signs of civilization, but as the storm closed back in they had lost their visibility again and there might have been a city just a few miles away and they would never have known. For now, they needed to focus on their immediate survival, and they turned back to their supplies and one another.

　

"Pass me the packs," Asami shouted to Tapeesa, still struggling to be heard over the noise of the storm, and she began to sling what supplies they had over her shoulder. Korra hopped out of the boat, landing in the water which was knee-deep and instantly attempted to bowl her over, but with a gesture the water retreated from her and she walked over to Asami, grabbing for one of the packs as well. "No," Asami said, "I'll carry our supplies. You need to keep the storm off us again." Korra might have protested, but they had so few supplies anyway that it would not have been overly burdensome for one person to carry them at all, and Asami was right, she did need to turn her focus back to the storm. It could still be dangerous, even after they had landed, and she walked up onto the beach and turned back to the thundering surf, focusing and holding back the waves which wanted to crash onto the now-grounded boat and assault her friends as they worked.

　

As Korra beat back the storm, Tapeesa turned to help Judith out of the boat and---the sight of Judith crawling along the boat's bottom, even now that it was stationary and not heaving on the waves, was almost enough to overwhelm her in a way that the rough ride had not. Tapeesa had seen her stiff, uncertain movements from almost as soon as Judith had awakened, the way her legs did not seem to have the strength to lift her body nor the fine control to be held steady, but had hoped that her condition was exacerbated by the rolling motions of the sea. Hoped that only her right arm had truly been disabled, and that once they got on solid land again she would recover the rest of her mobility. Now, even with the boat's hull resting on the sand and the roaring waves held off by Korra, giving her a surface as steady as if standing on rock, she was still dragging herself forward with her one good arm, supplemented by uncoordinated, spasming shoves of her legs that only served to highlight how little control over them she had. In moments she was breathing hard, physically exhausted on top of the grueling ordeal of being out in the storm, and she gripped the edge of the boat, pulling herself up to a semi-standing position and almost eye-to-eye with Tapeesa. She stared at Tapeesa, but did not say anything, letting the silence fill the space between them.

　

"Here, lean on me," Tapeesa said, and she stepped closer to the side of the boat and took hold of her hand. "We'll get up the shore together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small announcement; as of chapter 94, this fic is officially the _longest_ fic under the Korra/Asami pairing at 161,874 words, having surpassed Beech27's _Republic City Blues_ at 160,788. Now, if only this could be said to indicate quality, not just quantity, as anybody who's read Beech27's work knows that that line is still _far_ in the future. Read that story here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3168725/chapters/6880583
> 
> Thanks to everybody who's managed to actually stick with this for so long, since this fic is now longer than each one of the entries in _The Lord of the Rings_ except for _Fellowship_ , and longer than the individual first three _Harry Potter_ books. That's just....how the heck do you people read this stuff? I don't know if could handle reading that much and I'm writing the frikkin' thing.
> 
> In this chapter there was a lot of draw from previous Avatar motions; Korra's sweeping away the storm was based on Avatar Roku removing a large piece of the mountain of the Fire Sages Temple when he was possessing Aang during "Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)", and the carrying wave was based on Avatar Kuruk's carrying wave which was shown in "The Avatar State" when Aang saw each of the previous Avatars demonstrate their power.
> 
> I also stole a very tiny bit of history from "Kyoshi Rising" by iowaforever. I'm not saying that story is canon with mine (I'm not saying _any_ story is canon with mine), but when I got to Korra fighting a storm it seemed appropriate. Read that story, which dwarfs mine at _193,829 words_ , here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1272487/chapters/2629480


	96. Chapter 96

As she leaned against the stone wall, eyes half-closed as she basked in the warmth of the fire, Tapeesa reflected on just how easy it was to accept the strange and terrifying after just a little time of exposure in the right circumstances. A week ago she had half-dismissed Judith's wild tales of what Korra and Asami could do, and then she had been overawed and more than a little terrified when she ran into them herself, but now she was sheltered in a stone construct that had literally been drawn up out of the earth using magic and all she cared about was that it was dry and warm and a place where the four of them could stop and catch their breath.

 

The four of them had crawled up the sandy beach to the treeline hours ago, dragging behind them everything they could carry, including the boat itself. They were unsure of where exactly they had landed, though they were reasonably certain that it was _somewhere_ on the western coast of the United States, and wanted to keep the boat around in case they needed to re-embark after the storm had passed. As Asami carried their packs and Tapeesa helped support Judith, Korra had slid the boat along the ground using her earthbending until they reached the edge of the forest, and there had decided to make camp. With the storm still raging around them, lashing at them with wind and water, they all knew it would be tantamount to suicide to try and make any further explorations now, and so had settled in to wait and recuperate. In yet another display of her power, Korra had raised a solid stone building out of the earth with a single gesture as she lifted both of her arms over her head, and they had all crowded in with unmistakable relief at getting out of the storm. Behind the thick stone walls, which beat back both the wind and the rain, they had their first semblance of peace in hours.

 

Asami had dashed out into the rain again to gather up a bundle of wood from the surrounding tress as Korra went about finishing off the interior of their shelter, bending the water already on the ground out of the door and finely sculpting all of the precise features they would need. In minutes the floor was dry and had been smoothed into solidity, a firepit had been carved out, and Asami came back inside with an armful of logs and twigs. Tapeesa would have asked _why_ Asami had gathered the wood, since even she knew that you could not light a fire using such waterlogged materials, but after everything that had happened she had learned just to accept any and all actions the two took. Her faith was rewarded as Korra leaned over the still-dripping pile of wood and held out her hands, and then the logs began to steam and bubble and practically boil, and in less than a minute they were as dry as if they had been out of the rain for days. A minute after that Korra had ignited several of them in the firepit she had created, and with a communal sigh of relief all four of them then leaned back as their immediate struggle finally came to an end. Until the storm ended and they were able to discover where they were and what they were going to do next, they had shelter and they had heat and light, and they could relax and let the outside world tend to itself.

 

Slowly, her eyes closed the rest of the way, and moments later Tapeesa gently turned onto her side and fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Leaning forward to increase the pressure, Korra began to gently push and asked "And how does _this_ feel?"

 

Lying on her back, Joo Dee made a small mewling sound and said through gritted teeth, "I can...I can _feel_ it, but not like...it's distant."

 

Korra relaxed slightly, drawing Joo Dee's leg forward and letting it rest at almost full extension. She held it with one hand underneath her calf and the other flat against the sole, rotating it through a very small range of motion. "Can you feel where I am touching you, or just the tension in your muscles?"

 

"Both, I think." Joo Dee grimaced again as Korra bent her ankle to point straight ahead. "I think I can feel your hands, but it's very fuzzy, like you're wearing mittens or--no, like _I'm_ wearing mittens."

 

Korra nodded, and briefly considered asking what exactly a 'mitten' was before deciding that context was enough. She relaxed her hold on Joo Dee's leg and let in lay back on the ground, then gestured over to where she had previously drawn up a small puddle of water, calling some into her hands. As it began to glow she ran her hands along both of Joo Dee's legs, letting the waterbending healing work as she spoke.

 

"I do not believe there is damage to yours legs themselves, but to the connections between them and the rest of your body. These have not been broken completely, but they are damaged." When she held her hands over Joo Dee's knees, she could hear her fight to hold back a small gasp. "I will do everything I can with healing, and will help you re-learn your body. Re-learn how to speak to your legs and get your muscles to obey your mind."

 

"Bloody hell, you've got magic healing powers and I'm still stuck in rehab? There's a joke in there somewhere."

 

"I have never healed someone like this before and it will be hard, but...I have gone through this myself." Joo Dee was silent, waiting for her to continue. "I told you of my fight with Zaheer, yes? It was the fight against him that left my mind and spirit scarred and allowed me to see how you were hurt in the mind by what you had seen and experienced. But our fight injured me more than just in the mind, I was hurt much like you are now. I could not walk, and could barely bend, and had to be cared for and helped to heal by those around me. It was not easy, and even with waterbending healing it took many months before I could stand on my own, and those months were exhausting and painful and embarrassing in so many ways. But I had people who loved me, who helped and supported me, even though I tried to push them away at the time, and I had healing help. Just as you do. We will work together, and will push and heal your body."

 

When Joo Dee finally spoke, her voice was soft, but Korra was relieved that it had none of the depression or despair that she had feared. "Will I heal? Completely?" There was sadness in the question, yes, but also honest inquiry.

 

"I do not know how far you can come back, and I cannot say for certain if it is possible for you to be completely as you were. But even if it is not everything restored we can make great progress, more than you would think likely right now. And no matter what, your friends will be there to help you."

 

Joo Dee was quiet, letting Korra continue to move her healing hands over her legs, before she abruptly spoke. "Okay. Where do we begin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody, brace yourselves, I have news. Are you braced? _Really_ braced? If you're not braced, don't come crying to me. Here it is....we've got our first fanart for this story and WOW is it beautiful. By our own Nekkomimin, I present:
> 
> I'm unbelievably moved at that piece, and also at the others who have contacted me saying that they are working on their own pieces. Knowing that you liked this story enough to give me something _this_ amazing is enough to get me to keep writing forevermore.
> 
> Thank you all.


	97. Chapter 97

When Asami awoke the next morning, groggily fighting to break away from the dreams and non-thoughts that dominated her sleep, she was struck by how _right_ everything seemed. She could not immediately explain it, since they were still bound in a rude earthen shelter with no immediate prospects for satisfactory food or comfort, but as she blearily opened her eyes she felt a contentment and warmth that had been absent for a long time. The storm was still raging outside, she could hear it lashing out its rage against the sturdy walls of their shelter, but with the feel of Korra beside her as she awoke it-- _Korra_. Korra was lying beside her, curled up almost into a ball on her side with her back against Asami's chest, and Asami realized that the world was 'right' because she was _there_. For days now, ever since they had launched their rescue attempt, they had not been able to share their space like this; there had been so much to do, even when one of them had been able to sleep the other had always needed to stay awake to keep watch or tend the boat or otherwise deal with the circumstances. They had had only brief stolen moments, time measured in the minutes between actions despite the days that they had spent at sea, but now with their shelter from the storm, and their fire for warmth, and no immediate threats or dangers....

 

Korra had managed to compress herself rather impressively, folded into a surprisingly compact space, and Asami could see little of her except the back of her head and neck. Over the past four months that they had been in this world Korra's hair had begun to regrow, and if it was still not near the luxurious length she had worn before she had returned to Republic City it was at least long enough to succumb to gravity and fall to the side, leaving her neck bare. Asami reached out for a gentle caress, but stopped her hand a fraction of an inch away from her skin, hesitant to wake her. Instead, she kept her hand that infinitesimal space away from her neck and traced her fingers through the air just above the sculpted definition that she could see. Even in repose there was no mistaking the strength in Korra's muscles, the way they curved beneath her skin, an ever-present reminder of all that she could do. So much power, so much raw energy, and yet she was so gentle, so caring in all the ways that mattered; when Asami felt herself in Korra's arms she never felt any harshness, no pressure or force, just the sweetness of comfort, even though she recognized intellectually that the Avatar could quite literally break her into pieces. It did not matter that the Avatar had that power, _Korra_ she trusted implicitly, and she never felt safer or calmer than when she felt that power wrapped around her in reassurance. Making sure not to disturb her, Asami leaned forward until she had nearly buried herself in Korra's hair.

　

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

　

Asami nearly shrieked at the question rising from the to-all-appearances-sleeping form curled up against her, then let out a high-pitched laugh that was almost nervous. "How long have you been awake?"

　

"Long enough to wonder if you were going to get stuck in my hair again." Asami could not contain another chuckle as she remembered that day, months ago now, when her attempt to brush Korra's hair had gone so comedically wrong. Reminded, she reached up and began to run her fingers through Korra's thick hair as she had done before, careful not to get caught in a tangled knot like when they had been stuck in the forest.

　

"I'll do my best not to be trapped this time," she said, brushing out Korra's thick hair and relishing the fact that she could dig even deeper now that it had begun to grow out again, "but I won't make any promises." As the soft locks slipped through the fingers of her left hand, she brought her right to Korra's shoulder and began to trace along the muscles that she had eyed a few moments ago. She could feel their edges beneath the thin shirt Korra had worn as they slept, and as she followed their path the fabric transformed into warm skin as her hand was guided up to Korra's uncovered neck. She could feel the pulsing of Korra's blood there, rushing just beneath the surface, and it seemed to speed up even as the skin grew warmer.

　

Instead of saying anything, Korra reached up with her own hand and lay it over Asami's, holding her tight against her throat. She knew that Asami would be able to feel the way her heart was racing, but all she cared about was keeping her against her own skin for as long as she could. Just feeling the warmth of her hand, the softness of her skin, as Asami enveloped her completely. Korra hated feeling vulnerable, hated needing to rely on somebody else instead of her own abilities, but when Asami wrapped her up she did not feel weak or imprisoned. Asami made her feel cared for; not that she _needed_ help, but that Asami _wanted_ to help, and that in turn made her feel like she _deserved_ help. Asami was always so gentle, always had been, even back when Korra had tried to resent her over her relationship with Mako, but that gentleness had always been supported by a core stronger and more unbendable than platinum. Her skin was a beckoning embrace to sink into, but whenever Korra felt her arms around her she felt the iron support that sunk down into Asami's bones, and she felt safe that it was there to support _her_.

　

Asami's hand had shifted from brushing Korra's hair to slowly walking along her brow, and as it crossed Korra felt her heart race even faster. It had been too long since they had been able to feel one another, too long since they had just been able to lie next to one another and take comfort from the simple presence, and during that torturous so-close-separation there had been enough drama and struggle to require ages of recuperation. To be together again now, to feel Asami's hand beneath hers on her throat and another atop her face, was a fire that Korra felt racing through her body. She did not care that she was still physically and emotionally exhausted from all of the bending and healing she had done the day before, and she did not care that the two of them were covered in the remnants of days of ocean exposure. All she cared about, right then, was the feel of Asami against her, and the need to be together and feel _more_.

　

Without a word she turned onto her other side, bringing herself face-to-face with Asami, and she saw matching thoughts in Asami's eyes before they came together and saw nothing else except the fire that erupted in their minds.

　

* * *

 

　

"Huh? Whuzzat?" Judith jerked up from where she lay on the ground, twisting about as she tried to look around and account for the sudden crash that had knocked her out of her sleep. Panic almost consumed her as her body did not respond to her commands, until her conscious mind began to catch up and remembered all that had happened over the past days.

　

"Ssshh, ssshhh, it's okay." Tapeesa was next to her, gently trying to hold her in place as she began to thrash until she started to calm down.

　

"I heard a...I mean....what's going on?" Her mind was fuzzy, a haze of half-dreams and confused thoughts, as she looked around the shelter and thought that it looked different.

　

"It's okay, don't worry, we, uh, we have a new wall." Tapeesa pointed to one of the thick rock partitions, and now that it had been pointed out Judith recognized that this one had not been there the night before. It seemed to block off a section of what had been the large main room, but thankfully not the still-going fire or the exit. What was it for? Were Korra and Asami trying to protect them from something? Hide something from them? In fact, where _were_ they? She was about to voice the question when Tapeesa seemed to recognize exactly what she was thinking. "I think Korra and Asami are behind there, it rose up just a little bit ago and that's where they were sleeping."

　

"But why? What happened?" She noticed that Tapeesa seemed hesitant to answer, and was about to press the matter even further, when she saw that her cheeks had taken on a slight rosy color. With her complexion she had never visibly blushed much, not even when they were kids, but Judith could recognize the signs of embarrassment.

　

"They were, uh, I mean....I think they needed privacy and some time alone together. For...uh....privacy." If it had been a cartoon Judith imagined that she would see giant red dots floating off of Tapeesa's face, and her mouth fell open as she realized the implications.

　

"You mean they're...." Judith did not know exactly how to say what she was thinking. Thanks to the time they had spent together, and whatever Korra had done to her when they had first reunited back in Squamish, she had grown to accept the two of them as people, as human beings and not terrifying representations of magic and divinity, but they were still so strange and alien. They still spoke oddly and behaved oddly and had powers which were still magic even if they both said otherwise. Despite having recognized that they were a couple months ago, despite the still-vivid memory of their passionate kiss as they had plummeted towards the ground after leaping from their transport plane, she had never quite imagined that they would...ahem....need privacy. Not like that.

　

"I think the two of them need a little while to be undisturbed, is all, while they recuperate from everything they've been doing over the past few days." Tapeesa's cheeks stayed flush as she spoke, but she tried to keep her voice level and uninflected. "We should leave them be until they're ready to come out. Until then....are you ready for breakfast?"

　

Judith wanted to say so much, had so many questions, and was considering even knocking on the new wall and demanding some answers, but when she saw how nervous and awkward Tapeesa was, the way she was shuffling in her place and avoiding looking directly at her, she decided that whatever Korra and Asami were doing deserved to be allowed to progress uninterrupted and unquestioned. For now, she struggled to pull herself up into a sitting position and said, "Sure. What do we have?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what? We needed some fluff. Plain and simple, we _needed_ some fluff. It's been days of running and fighting and physical trauma and weather disasters and it was time for some snuggies.
> 
> Also, for the curious, the storm that they're currently stuck in is a remnant of Hurricane Ana, which hit the Pacific Northwest towards the end of October 2014.


	98. Chapter 98

When Korra awoke for what was essentially the second time that day, drowsily opening her eyes after what felt like the first truly refreshing nap that she had had in weeks, she felt a warm weight atop her and looked down to see Asami's hair pooling on her chest. By her steady breathing Asami was still asleep, and Korra gently reached up to stroke her hair, marveling at its feel. After days at sea, subjected to salt spray and heavy winds, by all rights it should have been a tangled mess of matted locks, but to Korra's fingers it seemed as silky and smooth as any time prior. Slowly, gently, her hand worked forward until it was trailed along the length of Asami's jaw, and Korra felt her own breath grow shallow as Asami's breath tickled the back of her hand. Her breathing was soft and relaxed, and at that moment Korra wanted to never wake her, to stay bound together in their little shelter for the rest of time. Outside was a still-raging storm (Even through the stone walls Korra could hear the howling winds), people with dangerous technology who meant them harm, and a lack of the simple luxuries and basic necessities of life. Inside the air was softly quiet, the only contact came from warm skin, and when it was just the two of them Korra could close her eyes and let the rest of the world just fade away.

　

Unfortunately, an audible, almost painful rumble from Korra's stomach raised objections to her plan to never move again. She had not eaten since the night before, and that had not been a very substantial meal in the first place, and now her body was voicing its displeasure with her habits while another hunger pang tried to impel her to motion. She would have resisted, defying even her own stomach to avoid disturbing the vision she had, but at the second roar coming from directly beneath her head Asami began to stir as well. She nearly fell off of Korra at the noise, and when her eyes finally cleared she glanced up with a smirk, teasing humor dancing in her expression. "I'm not sure if you're hungry, or if the pygmy puma you ate is saying _it's_ hungry."

　

Korra stifled a laugh, partly so as not to dignify such a remark with a positive response, and grinned as Asami crawled up her body and she felt their flush lips touch briefly. "I think it's just my active and energetic system trying to tell your lazy, lethargic body that it's time to get up and stop sleeping. The day's wasting, you know."

　

Asami gasped in mock-outrage and lightly knocked Korra on her shoulder, then began to stand and offered her hand to Korra. "Well, if the day's wasting then you shouldn't still be lying around, should you? Come on, don't dawdle down there." Pulling, she helped Korra to her feet, then turned to leave their private room and abruptly stopped short when she found herself facing only solid, blank walls. "Uh...Korra? I think you might have skipped a rather important design feature here."

　

"Huh? Oh, don't worry, I'll bend us a doorway in a minute, but don't you think you should get dressed first?" Asami looked confused for a second at the remark, then turned bright red as she realized her situation and scrambled to grab her clothing that was scattered along one wall of their small sanctuary. Looking uncharacteristically sheepish, flustered for one of the only times Korra could recall in the entire time they had known one another, she turned to face one of the walls and began to hastily don the garments with rushed, jerky movements. She had almost finished when she felt Korra's arms wrap around her from behind and the comforting presence just behind her right ear. "Ssssh, it's okay. It's okay." They stood like that for a moment, leaning into each other, before they broke apart and each finished getting dressed.

　

With Asami's face still flushed dark red, but also grinning widely from ear to ear, they both turned towards the wall that separated them from the main room and Tapeesa and Joo Dee, and Korra took a defined step forward that slid open a doorway in the rock.

　

They walked through together.

　

* * *

 

　

"I do not think the storm will break today, it will continue until at least this evening. While we wait for it to pass we should go through our supplies and prepare for what we will do afterwards."

　

All four of them sat around the firepit, finishing up their meagre lunch. Using their very last package of dried, preserved meat, Korra had begun making a stew much like what she had first cooked on the road to Montreal after they had run into the violent group of motorcyclists (Even now, more than a month later, at the memory she darted a glance at Asami to make sure that she was okay). There was not enough jerky left for a satisfying meal in itself, but they hoped that its presence would serve to distract from the flavor of the fish which made up the bulk of their fare, as the aquatic flesh had not become any more palatable with familiarity. All together it produced a sustenance which was filling enough to help them recuperate from the stresses of the day before and keep them going until dinner, even if not one of them would have called it 'food' if given a choice. They also all studiously did not think about the dinner that awaited them in several hours, as all they had left were their stocks of fish, without even any more of the 'delicacy' of beef jerky to accompany it.

　

"I believe we have landed on the western coast of the United States of America, but with the storm and my unfamiliarity with these seas I will not say that it is impossible that we were blown northward and have landed on the shores of Canada again. If that is the case, we must again make our way south by the most expedient means we have; as we agreed before we must remain outside of those borders. If we are in the territory of Washington as I believe, then we have all the opportunities of this new land open to us." Korra finished speaking and paused for any comment from anybody else.

　

"We need to figure out where we are, specifically, before we do any real in-depth planning." Joo Dee said. "I can't claim to be an expert in the States, but I've visited a few times and received a lot of info while I....from the service." She paused for a moment, and even Korra and Asami could tell that she was affected by her separation from her service in the RCAF. "We should probably move inland before we try to make contact with anybody, I've heard about some real paranoia with regards to their borders and four strange women literally sneaking ashore in the middle of a storm will raise a _lot_ of hackles. Even if we don't get _that_ reaction, until we can clean up we look like shipwreck survivors--which actually isn't that far off now that I think about it--and that will attract all its own attention."

　

"I agree, we should not allow news of our presence to spread if we can avoid it. Hopefully the military of Canada still believes we are within their territory and there is nobody searching for us in this land, but the internet and television apparently crosses their borders. If we become known here, word will reach north and they might have influence in this nation to resume their pursuit." Asami's words were not darkened, but calm; she was not afraid, simply cognizant of the dangers.

　

"Here's a thought," Tapeesa chimed in, "what are we going to do for money? They didn't return my credit cards before you broke us out, and I doubt you two are exactly overflowing with cash."

　

That question brought about a sudden uncomfortable silence, as Korra and Asami realized that they quite literally had **no** money. While it would be possible for them to survive off the land as they had before, that was not a prospect they were actually looking forward to, especially not now that they also had Tapeesa and Joo Dee with them.

　

"We...uh...we will figure that out once we have determined where we are and where we will be going," Korra said.

　

"Yes, we have found ways to earn money so far, and there will be other opportunities along the road. We all have useful abilities, we will simply need to find ways to use them." Asami spoke with such certainty, as she so often did, that the other three found themselves nodding before they even realized they were consciously doing it.

　

"So, let us sort through all that we have, then, and we will be ready to embark as soon as the opportunity arises."

　

* * *

 

　

As they worked through the extremely limited supplies that they had on hand, Korra and Asami both reflected at how similar it was to when they had first escaped their captivity months ago. They had barely more in their possession than they had had then, they were unsure of exactly where they were or where they could go, and there was simultaneously a thrill of excitement and also some trepidation. This time, however, the situation was of their own making, and they had Joo Dee and Tapeesa with them to share in their excitements and adventures.

　

Their clothing was, unfortunately, limited almost to only what they were wearing. The combat outfits they had worn over their regular clothing during the rescue provided them with some extra fabric, enough to fashion Joo Dee a replacement shirt to stand in for the torn and bloodstained one she had been wearing when she was shot, but she and Tapeesa were forced primarily to remain in the unadorned prisoner clothing they had been provided with before being rescued. Korra and Asami were slightly better off, at least they had been wearing their own clothing beneath their combat outfits and thus retained some personal elements, but likewise found themselves without replacements or spares.

　

For technological equipment (Primarily combat devices) they were in much better condition, which raised the eyebrows of both Joo Dee and Tapeesa. They had retained or recovered most of the equipment they had used during the rescue, sealed away and stored during their ocean voyage, and thus they had Korra's metalbending cables, Asami's electrified glove and bolas, the remaining flashbang grenades, and the other miscellaneous constructs they had brought with them. Many of them had no remaining electrical power, but all could be easily recharged or replaced, and some had not been depleted at all. They also had items which were mundane to this world, including a few small flashlights (Which had hardly been used since Korra could create a light with firebending at any need) and the cellular phone they had been given by Kunik and Petuwaq so long ago (They had not dared use it for fear of being tracked, and had not made any contact with them at all for fear of getting them into trouble, but they still remembered the kindness).

　

Perhaps their greatest resource at the moment, though, was the metal they had on hand. The armor Korra had worn, along with what Asami had carried, had all been collected together, and it gave Korra a lot of bending material to work with. She had already used it to carve their boat days ago, and now she bent it all into small, stackable, easily carried bars until they needed it again. With this much metal already processed but unused it meant that they had the materials at hand to deal with many trials that had proved difficult when they had previously found themselves lost in the wilderness. In fact...

　

"Joo Dee, please stretch out along the ground."

　

Joo Dee had been assisting as best she could while Korra, Asami and Tapeesa sorted through the equipment, but had reluctantly been forced to stay out of much of the way due to her difficulties with carrying and moving. Now she was propped up against the wall, sitting and using her functional arm to lay out some of the smaller devices, and she looked up at the question. "What was that?"

　

"Please lie down, I wish to measure you, to see the shape of your body."

　

"What? Why?"

　

Korra held up one of the metal blocks, "I hope build for you equipment to help you, to help with your recovery. Your body can still move, can still hear your mind, and with help....you are not helpless. You do not need to wait."

　

Joo Dee stared at her for a moment, then with Tapeesa's help slid down off the wall and stretched flat on the ground. She needed assistance to get her legs properly positioned, to lay them straight and side-by-side, but then Korra was beside her, curling out the metal block until it ran alongside her body. She marked off certain sections and bent others, careful working her own construction.

　

Behind Korra, Asami had continued to go through their packs, and in the final pocket she pulled out a small package of soft cloth. Unwrapping it tenderly, she removed their necklaces, the two intricate bits of glittering metalwork that Korra had sculpted on the road to Montreal. Of all their personal possessions, these were the only ones that they had carried with them through the ordeal, carefully stored until they could take them out and don them again. As Korra crafted new metal for Joo Dee, Asami smiled and shook out her necklace, lifting it over her head and letting it drape around her neck again. The weight was familiar, its pressure against her chest a welcome embrace, and she set aside the other one for Korra once she was finished.


	99. Chapter 99

"Right here, bend this joint a little bit to the left." Asami held one of the newly-formed braces in her hand and angled the connection towards Korra, about halfway along its length.

 

Korra reached out and took hold of the joint, slowly bending the metal in the indicated direction. "Okay, tell me when to stop." After so much time in this world, which had _so much_ metal, her fine control of metalbending had improved drastically and she was able to keep the change smooth and steady.

 

"A little bit further.....a little bit further.....stop." Korra released the metal exactly at Asami's instruction, and Asami then leaned in close to peer at the connection. "I think that's perfect. Hand me that spring? I want to try and get this brace set before we work on joining them together." Korra handed her the tightly-coiled metal wire and observed as Asami carefully slid it into the new opening. Even without metalbending she was quick and precise, and soon she handed it back to Korra, who flexed the joint and tested its resistance, looking for any flaw in the metal. "All set," Korra said, and then the two of them turned to the collection of already-completed devices laid out before them. With quick, competent motions they began to assemble them into a larger whole.

 

Beside them, Judith and Tapeesa observed from standing against the wall. Normally they would be sitting down for the simple comfort of relaxing, but Judith supported herself on a metal crutch that Korra had crafted for her and she relished the sensation of being upright again. Even though she was still almost immobile, and Tapeesa stood by her shoulder in the event that she needed help, the simple fact that she was standing felt wonderful after days of forced invalidity. By leaning on the crutch under her left arm she could slowly and tentatively make her way around their shelter.

　

"Joo Dee? Please come have a seat." Korra had elevated a patch of earth into a rude stool, and Judith hobbled over at Asami's call, Tapeesa following at her shoulder. Slowly, with the other three all tensed in case she needed help, she lowered herself onto the stool, panting with exertion over the effort but accomplishing it regardless. When Korra reached out to take hold of her right leg, she let her extend it slowly, letting out a hissing sigh as it reached full extension. Then both kneeling women began to wrap strips of metal around her.

　

In a minute Judith's right leg was encased in metallic construct which they repeated with the left, then connecting them with another contraption that wrapped around her waist. When it was finished she felt more than a little trapped, bound in a cage, but she nodded determinedly when they gripped her under her arms and gave her a questioning look. Heaving together, Korra and Asami raised her to her feet and balanced her steadily, then each took a tentative step back and released their holds.

　

She remained upright.

　

She did wobble a bit, almost comically, but she stood, held rigid by the braces. At that simple fact, even though she had been standing with the aide of a crutch just minutes ago, she literally whooped for joy and nearly toppled herself over, but Tapeesa was there to grab her just as her arms began to windmill. Still laughing, she buried herself against Tapeesa's shoulder, who held her tightly in return. "I said you were beautiful when you laugh".  Judith could not help but grin even wider.

　

Smiling herself, Korra picked up the crutch where it had fallen and held it out to Judith, "Now, let's see how far we can get today."

　

* * *

 

　

That night, as all four prepared for sleep, Korra grinned at Asami as they could hear Joo Dee still eagerly telling Tapeesa how good it felt to stand upright and walk about. "You know, we _could_ go ahead and just build her a mechasuit."

　

"I checked, we don't have the equipment for mechanized supports." Asami's response was so pat and calm that it was clear she had been considering the idea all along. "We'd need to get some specialized supplies and I'd need some time to work it all together."

　

Korra was silent for a moment, almost shocked that her flippant remark had been taken at face value, but not _that_ surprised given who she was talking to. "Well....uh...I guess we'll have to pick up more equipment on the road?"

　

"I won't need much, I should be able to use the brace we made today as a framework and just install the new parts onto it, so all we would need are the hydraulics and electronics, not the mass of a new set of legs." She paused for a moment to consider, then continued, "Unless we want to actually make her a real mechasuit in total. We would need a lot more metal for that."

　

Korra had to let out a small chuckle at that and draped her herself across Asami's shoulder. "Do you realize how normal you make it sound to just build somebody a mechasuit? Especially somebody who would be able to use it to walk again?" Her smile dampened a little bit, since Joo Dee had only been first injured a few days ago and it would be a lot longer before the guilt and regret of that faded completely. "It's like there's absolutely nothing you can't do."

　

"I hope you realize that that's exactly how _you_ seem." Asami let her hand wander up and down Korra's arm, aimlessly marking out small patterns as she let herself sink together. "We're stuck in this storm, we haven't even discovered where we landed, and you decide it's not worth time _waiting_ for anything, you just start making something right away. You get some metal in your hands and now Joo Dee can stand up, and tomorrow she's going to be moving outside."

　

"Yeah, but....wait, are we just going to spend the next hour telling each other how fantastic we are?"

　

"We _could_ , but I suppose we could also just accept that as an established fact and proceed from there." Asami said it with such perfect calmness, like describing how wet water is, that Korra could not restrain a giggle.

　

"Well, in our mutual interest then, I hereby declare that it _is_ an accepted fact. Any objections?" Asami's only response was to laugh and swat her side, so Korra grinned again and said "Very well, as an Official Avatar Proclomation, it is accepted: We are fantastic." Asami nearly descended into laughter at the pronouncement.

　

Later, after the laughter had faded away to quiet repose, they lay in the flickering light of the campfire as they listened to the still-echoing sound of the rain against the roof and walls of their shelter. It had edged into deep night by now, and all four of them were eagerly awaiting the next day. The storm would (hopefully) pass in the night, giving them the opportunity to discover where they were, to see what was outside, to _explore_. As Korra and Asami had said so often, even with the struggle against the military of Canada and being trapped in this world they still wanted to see all that there was. They wanted to learn what was in this nation that was apparently so similar and simultaneously so different from Canada, to see how they could apparently speak the same language differently (How did that even work?). They also wanted the simple pleasures that would come; different food (Whatever this fish was, and neither Tapeesa nor Joo Dee had been able to identify it, it truly was something foul), the ability to obtain different clothing, meeting new people and having fun and building new things. It was all out there, beyond the stone walls of their shelter.

　

Tomorrow, the world would begin anew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Chapter 99, so I guess that means the next one is...... _Chapter 100?!?!?!_
> 
> What will it be? How will this momentous milestone be marked and celebrated? Will it be worthy of such auspicious numbering? Will it be worthy of **your time and energy to read?**
> 
> Find out next time on _In the World_!
> 
> .....also, you need to read that in the voice of Kyle Hebert.


	100. Chapter 100

The storm broke in the night, and early in the next morning all four of the women stepped blinking into the first sunlight they had seen in days. Moisture still hung thick in the air, granting a crystalline clarity to everything, and they all stood silent for a moment to appreciate the sight of the sky itself glittering under the sun, with the vast ocean a shining sheet of brightness. The sight was welcome after literal days of stone walls and black clouds, and the simple feel of a cool breeze against the skin was refreshing all by itself. Able to look around them now, they seemed to have landed on what looked to be a small island, or more likely a peninsula that extended to the south. The two couples stood side-by-side, Korra and Asami leaning against each other and Tapeesa holding on to Joo Dee with a steadying arm, and took a minute to just _breathe_.

 

Unfortunately, the cool breeze coming off of the ocean quickly became too cool for comfort, and Korra felt Asami begin to shiver against her. Feeling the wind, and the chill it carried, Korra stated "Winter is coming," loud enough to be heard by all. She meant it to be a portend for what was coming, and was not prepared for Tapeesa's sudden guffaw of laughter, which she quickly tried to smother.

 

"Sorry, I'm sorry, it was just....what you said....*ah-hem*.....sorry, you were saying?" Korra and Asami stared at her in confusion while she continued trying to fight down a chuckle. Joo Dee seemed, if anything, _embarrassed_ by the exchange, and quietly mumbled something which did not carry over to them. Tapeesa nodded, and finally managed to stop her laughter, but she was still smiling at whatever joke she had thought of.

 

"I was saying that winter is coming, I can feel it in the air." As if to punctuate Korra's statement, there was another gust of wind from the sea, this one even colder than the earlier breeze. "We should begin making our way south as fast as possible, as we do not have any proper cold weather clothing or equipment. I have not experienced your winters in this land, but it will be dangerous to be caught in the first snow unprepared."

 

"Today is...uh...I'm honestly not sure what today's date is, but we're nearing November." Joo Dee was still staring at the ocean, mesmerized by the brilliance, but she spoke matter-of-factly regardless. "You're right, it's going to start getting dangerously cold soon, we usually start getting our first snows somewhere in this month, sometimes very heavily. Although....is that really going to be a serious problem for you? I know you already said you were planning on heading south to avoid the worst of it, and I definitely don't want to get stuck in a blizzard, but I've seen you...I mean...." she gestured behind them to where the shelter they had weathered the storm stood. "You don't really need to be worried about the elements, do you?"

 

"We could _survive_ a storm, yes, but we're looking to do more than just survive. To be able to move around, to enjoy this land, will not happen if we are barricaded behind a wall of snow. Also, there are limits to what even bending can accomplish." Asami grinned at that sentence from Korra, remembering back to the woman she had first met years ago who would never have believed that there was anything you could not do with bending. "Remember when your people first found us, trapped at your North Pole? Without food, without any respite from the constant cold..." Now even Korra shivered, feeling the remembered bite of the arctic teeth, even though she could bear the current cool breeze. "...it would be best for all of us if we made our way to warmer climates before the danger became pressing."

 

"Well then, we'd best get moving. I'll...uh...I'll start packing up." Joo Dee only tore herself away from the view of the ocean with a visible effort, as if she were physically tethered to the vast expanse, then turned back towards the shelter. She determinedly worked her way back to the opening with Tapeesa following at her side, tense in case she should fall, but she was already moving with a semblance of confidence with the support of her leg braces and crutch. Just before the two of them disappeared back inside Tapeesa said something under her breath, her voice still filled with humor, and Joo Dee could not seem to restrain her own laughter in response.

 

"What did she just say?" Korra was looking at Asami in confusion, still unsure of what had caused Tapeesa's laughter before.

 

Asami shrugged her shoulders in response. "I didn't catch it. Something about walking in whiteness? I don't get how it's a joke."

 

Korra stared at the shelter in incomprehension for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders as well. "Me neither."

　

* * *

 

　

The morning passed quickly in preparations for their departure, even after all the work they had done the day before. Now that they could see that there was likely land to their south they decided not to re-embark on the sea, instead traveling overland and hopefully to a town or city. Their supplies were divvied up between them, and like she had done when they were first starting their trek through the wilds of Quebec, Korra used her earthbending to craft a wheeled stone cart to assist with their loads, including a seating area for Joo Dee. Joo Dee had looked to be on the verge of protesting, but had subsided without voicing any complaints at all after a moment. If they encountered any difficult terrain she would not be able to walk over it easily, nor even over flat land for any great distance since she was still growing accustomed to her situation. Their remaining blocks of frozen fish were loaded as well (As unpleasant as they were, poor food was better than no food if they could not discover any local game or other opportunities) and then they had one final step before they were ready for their journey: Cleaning.

 

It had been more than a week since any of them had bathed or showered, and in much of that time they had been victims of sea spray and heavy winds. They were marked and grimed and scuffed worse than if they had already been marching through the wilderness, and before they started their _actual_ trudge they did their best to erase the evidence of the past week's travails. Korra carved out a deep bathing pit in the ground which she filled with fresh water, then used her firebending to heat it to just-short-of-scalding. Taking turns, Korra, Asami and Tapeesa gratefully sunk into the steaming water and scrubbed themselves until their skin was almost raw, caking off the salt and dirt and other remnants of their travels until they felt rejuvenated. Just the sensation of being clean, of not feeling days of sweat every time you touched your own face or getting caught in a matted mess whenever you felt your hair, was enough to restore so much vitality.

 

When it was Joo Dee's turn, Korra and Asami retreated back into the shelter, making vague statements about 'tidying up' (What exactly they were planning to tidy in what was now a completely empty stone box they did not elaborate). Just as they went inside they could hear the clatter and exertion as Tapeesa helped Joo Dee take off her leg braces, and then the difficult shuffling as she slid into the tub and struggled to work with her one functioning arm. They could hear Tapeesa's soft, murmured encouragement and the gentle sounds of the water shifting, then Korra quietly closed off the opening to give them complete privacy.

 

"She's doing amazingly well, especially so soon." Korra's expression was almost wistful, as if she was wishing that she had behaved similarly in her own recuperation. "It was weeks before I would even let anybody help me get dressed."

 

"Jinora's ceremony, I remember."

 

"That was nearly four years ago, how do _you_ remember?"

 

Asami blushed slightly, just the tiniest red tinge that would have gone unnoticed by anybody except the woman who had become so intimately familiar with her skin. "I remember everything about that whole time, seeing you so broken nearly broke _me_ and....I still remember how you felt when I touched you." The instant after she said it, Asami's eyes bulged wide and she had to fight back a panicked urged to ramble and try to backtrack over her words. Forcing herself to take a deep breath so she would not babble out an incoherent explanation, she explained "I'd already realized that you meant something more to me, something so special I could not even begin to explain it, and with you so hurt.....when you asked me for help getting ready for the ceremony, I was relieved that you were letting me _in_. Helping you get dressed...I could feel all the cracks inside you, so I remember just how hurt you were, and I remember every time you'd let me in just a little bit."

 

Korra's blush matched Asami's, the tiniest touch of red that was almost invisible against her warm coloring, and she leaned forward to lay her forehead against Asami's. Grinning, she reached up to intertwine her fingers behind Asami's neck and held on tightly. "Well, not matter how stubborn I was back then, trust me, right now you're about as in as you can be." Leaning in so closely, Korra could not quite see Asami's entire face, but she could still recognize the wide smile that sprouted after her words.

　

* * *

 

　

"Well, I think this makes it official, we definitely landed in the States."

　

In what seemed almost like an anticlimax after their days at sea and their preparations for a long march through the woods, the four of them had come across a paved road less than an hour after they left where they had ridden out the storm, and within five miles from their original landing point. It seemed to run north-to-south, and was marked with signs that had the numbers '103' set within what looked like a person's silhouette.

　

Looking up at the sign, Korra asked, "Do you know this road?"

　

"What? Oh, no, I've never been here." Joo Dee was standing next to the stone cart, leaning against it for stability as she stared up at the sign. She had been sitting in the seat it bore up until now, unable to navigate the rough and rocky ground of the forest, but had climbed out once they reached the smooth, even pavement. "But that's not a Canadian road sign, that's probably supposed to be a picture of George Washington."

　

"That is a relief," Asami said, "we will not need to cross any borders in that case."

　

"Anything there that gives us something specific?" Tapeesa called out.

　

"Not unless you happen to have a roadmap of the state, but it's sure to lead somewhere. We should just follow this road, it'll lead us to a city or town eventually." With no alternative plan, they began to follow the road south, and soon enough began seeing additional signs along the roadway, including pointing to what they presumed to be towns along the way. Feeling almost a sense of chagrin, that this had all been _so close_ as they huddled beneath the pounding rain of the storm, in an hour they had begun passing houses and assorted other buildings and found themselves in the midst of a small town whose signs proclaimed them to be in 'Oysterville'.

　

They had been getting odd looks from people along the way since they first began passing habitation, although whether they were staring at the cart or the tattered clothing, or something else, was anybody's guess. Nobody had actually approached them, leaving them free to wander down the roads as they would. Now, though, the time had moved into early afternoon, and unless they wanted to eventually make a camp right in the middle of town they had to get some kind of determination of exactly where they were and what options they had, and that meant finding some sort of reference materials, preferably a library. Conferring amongst themselves, Joo Dee actually made the compelling argument that it should be Korra and Asami who approached somebody, and not either herself or Tapeesa.

　

"You two could pass for lost tourists," she had said. "With your accents it'd be easy to dismiss you as being from some place that they've never heard of and who don't understand how things work here. That alone makes you a known quantity, not something to be further explored, and they'll forget you in ten minutes. Plus, you're both in much better condition than we are." She somehow managed to speak without rancor, and gestured at their clothing to show that she meant more than just her own new inability to walk unassisted. "If they see us up close, they're going to try and call the police or an ambulance. You two....hell, you're practically made-up." She might have been overstating things a bit, but not too extremely; Korra and Asami both wore actual clothing, even with some ornamental accessories, and carried themselves as though everything they had endured was normal and expected. If you had not know what had occurred over the past few days they could have been mistaken for two women out for a normal day in town. Conceding the point, they had pulled the cart into a small alleyway between buildings, and then Korra and Asami began to approach people out in the street.

　

* * *

 

　

As she watched Korra and Asami talk to different people on the sidewalk, Tapeesa kept half an eye on Judith beside her, once again sitting in the chair that Korra had prepared into the cart.

　

"How are you feeling? I mean, how are you _feeling_ , not, y'know, 'how are you feeling?'"

　

Despite the phrasing, Judith seemed to have no problem understand the question. "I'm....okay. Tired and sore, and it feels like I've been hiking while carrying bricks instead of just slowly walking down the street, but okay. I already feel better than it was yesterday. I think once I get used to this thing," and she flicked her finger against the leg braces Korra and Asami had made for her, "I'll be even better."

　

"Good. I....good." Korra and Asami seemed to have reached somebody helpful, animatedly talking to what looked like an elderly couple that had been sitting on a bench beside the road. "I hope that...Korra said that hopefully you'll get better completely." Tapeesa regretted the words the instant after she said them, since of _course_ Judith knew what Korra had said, and she did not need to be reminded.

　

"Yeah, she did, and I really hope that I will, especially with her waterbending. Thinking about it, my progress already has been amazing. Not even a full week since I was shot and I'm already assistance-mobile and working on rehab, if that's not a record then I don't know what is." Her voice was actually hopeful, and again Tapeesa marveled at the difference between her now and the way she had been back in Squamish. Tapeesa turned back to the street and saw that Korra and Asami were still talking to the same couple, who had been joined by another person, and as she watched a _fourth_ person walked up and joined the conversation.

　

"Huh...are they....they're building up quite an audience, right?" Tapeesa's voice was not concerned, not quite, but definitely observant that their intended 'get directions to local library' plan had already changed. Not only were there now four people congregated around them, but what looked like a fifth person was standing close, sort of hovering behind them. "Should we say something?"

　

"No, I don't think so." Judith was looking at the growing-group as well, but without even the start of concern that Tapeesa had. "I'm sure it's nothing, and besides, if there's any kind of trouble, _they're_ going to be the ones doing the rescuing, and---ah, there ya go." In the middle of her sentence one of the newcomers to the group had taken out a cell phone and handed it to Asami, and now the entire group (Including that fifth person who had been standing apart) was clustered together posing as Asami took their picture. "See, nothing to worry about." Smiling and laughing all around as Asami handed back the phone, the original two people were now pointing and gesturing into the distance in the universal symbols of giving directions. Shortly afterwards Korra and Asami broke away and made their way back to where Judith and Tapeesa were waiting.

　

"Let me guess," Tapeesa said as they approached, "family visiting from out of town?"

　

"Hmmm? Oh, yes, their son William is having a birthday tomorrow and they have all met up today, they said they rarely get to be at the same place at the same time together." Asami had a mist to her eyes, a barely-noticeable moistness which both Tapeesa and Judith decline to comment on. "Steven and Elizabeth were able to give us directions to the Ocean Park Library, it is only two miles from here."

　

"They are open until 7:00, but we should head there now." Korra was looking up at the sky, Tapeesa guessed judging the time and weather. "I gathered from their conversation that we should begin heading east into the interior of the nation soon, there will not be opportunities around this region for us to blend into the populace or avoid suspicion for any length of time."

　

"Ocean Park Library it is," Judith said, and began to clatter her way upright from her seat. "Let's be off."

　

Korra looked on the verge of protesting, Tapeesa guessed to suggest that she remain seated and allow them to carry her, but she almost visibly bit her tongue and nodded. "Yes, let us be off."

　

Just as they were about to walk back out onto the street, Korra pulling the cart behind her, Asami's head twitched as if she had heard something, and a few seconds later the distant sounds of engine came on the wind. It was heavy and deep, the kind of engine that Tapeesa always associated with dumb kids who enjoyed annoying bystanders with their ridiculously loud cars, and shortly after the sound reached them the car itself turned onto the road they were standing on. Like the sound of the engine, the look of the car itself was loud, covered with gaudy accessories that were so ostentatious as to be garish. So much reflective chrome and gold covered the body (Could it really be gold? No, probably something painted gold) and as it slowly cruised down the street the engine revved several times, and with the combined visual and auditory assault of the vehicle everybody on the street could not help but turn their eyes to watch it drive past.

　

As it pulled to a stop (In front of a fire hydrant, Tapeesa noted), three men climbed out, just as crassly adorned as their vehicle. They turned towards one of the small shops on the far side of the road and walked towards it, and even Tapeesa could see that at least one of them had a gun tucked into his pants. They were not close enough to hear what was being said, but a person who was presumably the proprietor had come to speak to the three men. In seconds he was shaking and sweating profusely, clearly terrified, and Tapeesa imagined he was about to fall to his knees.

　

"There's something very familiar about all this." Korra had already taken a step towards the street when she spoke, and Asami was still beside her.

　

"黑社會."  Asami said. "Triads."

　

"Yes." Korra paused mid-step on her way across the street and turned back to look at Tapeesa and Judith. "Stay here. Stay safe. We will be back in a moment." She was moving again almost before she finished, completing the step she had interrupted, and Tapeesa saw her reach down and do something to the metal holsters on her hip that she knew held those metal cables she controlled. Asami, meanwhile, had pulled on a thick glove over her right hand and clenched it into a quick fist. By now they were almost across the street, and Tapeesa heard Korra shout to attract the attention of the three men who now looked close to immediate violence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, welcome to **CHAPTER 100** everybody! Wow, what a milestone, eh? I never expected to get this far, did any of you?
> 
> Surprisingly, not as BIG of a chapter as I had expected, not a whole lot happening, a lot of intermediate and building steps. But you know what? If I had skipped over all of this and opened with "AND THEN A BOMB EXPLODED!" it wouldn't have been _this_ story, do you know what I mean? Even though we've _had_ bombs (Well, flashbangs at least) I've made a point so far of connecting all the dots, explaining how they got from A to B to C, and it just wouldn't have been right to skip over them recovering from the boat ride and getting out of this forest.
> 
> Speaking of connecting all the dots, I haven't given you mapping points for a while, have I? Well, for those who want to follow along on Korra and Asami's (And now also Tapeesa and Judith's) journey, they landed their dugout canoe in Leadbetter Point State Park, on Long Beach Peninsula in Washington, USA. On a straight-line course running from North-West (Launch point on Vancouver Island) to South-East (Landing Point) it's about 225 miles, but their trip was much longer given that they went out to sea first before returning to land.
> 
> On a community point, despite holding the title for oh-so-briefly, this fic has been surpassed for longest story under the Korra/Asami tag. Apnsb's "How to Live With a Ghost" is now the #1 longest Korrasami fic at 185,115 words as of this writing. One-hundred and eighty-five _thousand_ words, I feel tired just writing that number. Read that story here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3509180
> 
> For a touch of behind-the-scenes, the line in this chapter "Let me guess, family visiting from out of town?" after Asami took the family's photo was originally given to Judith as just a minor observation, but after writing it I thought about just how messed up her relationship with her family is, how completely she had tried to cut off everything from her old life from her new one, and I switched it to Tapeesa. Judith has never had this moment, this point after everybody has grown up and moved away where the whole family gathers together for a birthday and spends the day together, and she wouldn't be able to put herself into that position to effortlessly connect what had happened. Dang, I've given her a _really_ hard time in life.
> 
> There's also a cookie for whoever gets the hidden reference in this chapter! And before you say it, no, you don't get a cookie for recognizing Westeros or _The Legend of Korra_ itself. My cookies deserve better than that!
> 
> Also, our own Nekkomimin, the birther of our first fanart, has launched a new tumblr account. Check it out here: http://rainfallsuniverse.tumblr.com/
> 
> Here's to the first 100 chapters, made so special because of each and every one of you who have read this story, and to another 100 hundred after this.


	101. Chapter 101

"Look, Jimmy, we've been over this again and again, and Robbie's starting to ask questions. We've given you all the time we can, but we're standing here with our pockets turned out." The man in the center of the three triads, who had gotten out of the passenger seat of the car, spoke in a voice filled with such false sympathy that it was almost more unpleasant than a direct threat. The lean man beside him, who had been driving, seemed to have the 'direct threat' part covered, roughly digging through the wares on display and 'carelessly' knocking them about as the first one continued to speak. "So it's about time we--"

　

"Hey!" The shout was loud, Korra's voice a deep boom meant to draw the attention and notice of everybody the area, and as the triads turned around Korra stepped forward. She spun her glider staff over her head and planted it firmly in the ground, an echoing _crack_ erupting from the pavement at the impact, and faced the three men directly. Asami stood beside Korra, slightly angled to present her right side forward with her hip cocked and arms held ready. The wind, which had been gusting all day, kicked up again in a sudden burst, catching their hair and blowing it out behind them in wild streams of brown and black. Together, they faced the three men side-by-side, and even though their expressions were dominated by confusion at the interruption, there was room enough for a little bit of fear at the display. "Is there a problem here?"

　

Korra spoke calmly, almost softly, but loud enough to be heard. She did not snarl or shriek, but allowed herself to draw upon the self-assurance that had grown during all of their struggles over the years, and was rewarded by seeing the confusion on the faces in front of her shrink a little bit, with apprehension growing in its place. Whoever they were, they could apparently recognize the backing which supported such composure.

　

Unfortunately, they could apparently not trace it far enough, as all three forced out short, chuckling laughs. "No, no problem here at all," the same one who had been speaking said. "Just working out some private business here. A matter of our own personal affairs. You should stick to yours." He paused for an instant, and let his gaze travel up and down in an obviously telegraphed motion. "Unless you two want to stick around for a bit; once we're done here I'd be happy to discuss all sorts of personal affairs with you." The two others with him let out another pair of short laughs, the lean one making some hand gesture which Korra and Asami could both tell was meant to be obscene.

　

At the verbal response and gesture Asami forced herself to hold back a resigned sigh, disappointed at the banality of their actions. Another group of petty, low-minded thugs; she almost would have preferred them to be more dangerous if it meant not needing to get mired in such muck. "You seem to be causing distress to this shopkeeper and are disturbing his wares, and are behaving threateningly in public. We would ask that you be on your way. Please depart."

　

The three men had been slowly sauntering forward, now barely more than two arm lengths away, and the apparent leader had surreptitiously reached around his back to where he had something hidden beneath his jacket. At least, he probably meant it to be surreptitious, but to both Korra and Asami the movement was as obvious as his deliberate overlook earlier. "Hey, look--" it was in the middle of his sentence that he moved, darting his hand out from behind his back, and if his targets had not already been on to him it might have been a competently executed sneak attack. As it was, however, when he brought out a short, pointed stiletto, Korra was already moving, sweeping her staff across her front and bringing it down onto his wrist in a single smooth motion. It hit with an audible _snap_ of breaking bones, and the knife dropped from his limp fingers as he began to cry in shock and pain. Before he could finish his shout Korra had reversed the swing of her staff, bring it back up and slamming into the side of his head and continuing on in a curving arc. Gibbering, he curved over to the side and fell against the door of the car he had arrived in, sinking to the ground.

　

At the same moment that the leader had brought out the knife Asami had lunged forward. The lean man, the one who had been rifling the shopkeeper's material, had his hands held up in front of him and Asami reached out to grab both extremities, twisting and applying pressure that quickly forced him down to his knees and wringing a high-pitched whine from him. Spinning, she pulled him off his feet and slammed him into the car next to his leader, who was still moaning.

　

Together, Korra and Asami turned to the last man, who they knew was carrying a gun that they had seen from across the street. However, instead of brandishing the weapon he had taken several steps back and held both of his hands away from his body with the palms out, bearing a rictus expression that might have been called a grin if you were being charitable. "Hey, whoa now, let's...let's all just calm down now, hey? I'm not...I mean...there's no need for things to get any worse, right? We can just leave it here, right?" Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead as he took another tentative step backwards. "We're just.....uh....look, it's not that I...see..."

　

His panic was growing, and if he had not been party to an extortion mere minutes ago Korra might have felt sorry for him. Resettling herself, with her staff held in a simple two-handed guard angled towards his chest, she calmly instructed him turn around. As he turned, the handle of his gun became visible, sticking out from the back of his pants where he probably meant for his jacket to obscure it. Making sure to stay to the side, out of Korra's direct line, Asami reached forward with her gloved hand and pulled out the weapon by its handle, then stepped back and laid it on the ground at Korra's feet. With a single, strong stomp, Korra brought her heel down on the weapon and flattened it against the pavement.

　

"Sit down next to your friends," Korra said, and he quickly dropped to his knees next to the car, alongside the two that had already been disabled. Handing her staff off to Asami, Korra reached down and began to unspool a length of wire from her metalbending cables, wrapping it around the three of them together and binding them tightly. Once she was finished she turned to the shopkeeper, who had not moved from where he had been standing during the entire altercation. "You should call the police and say what has happened. I hope you will be okay." He managed only a single jerky nod, staring at the tied up men with wide eyes and a twitching smile, before Korra and Asami jogged back across the street to where Tapeesa and Joo Dee were waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra's spin-and-plant with her glider staff is based on Aang's motion in "The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)", where he is trying to halt the attacks by the spirit creature Hei Bei on a village. It winds up in the dramatic, head-on pose which Aang is often shown in, including in the statue erected outside of Republic City.


	102. Chapter 102

It was not until later that night, after they had spent a brief period at the library researching their location and the surrounding areas and then walked out of the town to the east, that Judith broached the subject which had been weighing on her mind since Korra and Asami had knocked about the three criminals. They were only a few miles out from the center of town, still close enough to see the lights twinkling and hear the noises of civilization, but they had decided to settle down for the evening instead of wandering through unknown territory in the dark. Tomorrow, now that they had an idea of where they were and where they were going, they could cover greater distance. Korra had erected what was by now a very familiar stone shelter and built up a fire against the growing cold of the night, and the four of them sat around its flickering light, toasting bits of fish in the flames.

 

"About what happened today. The three men in town, I mean. Isn't that going to attract attention? We're not going to be outrunning a chase by hiking along the road, especially not...we're not going to be running very quickly." Judith tried not to sound accusatory, but they had just spoken the day before about not being noticed and avoiding any official focus from the government. After that conversation about the dangers of word spreading, for them to start getting noticed the _next day_ rankled. "The police are probably already looking for the two strange women who knocked about an extortion team in broad daylight."

 

"Are you saying we should not have helped?" Asami's answer had no fire to it, no condemnation, and the way she asked it so honestly made Judith burn with a touch of shame.

 

"No, not....but what are we going to do when a cop car drives by tomorrow? I don't....do you really want to have to break out of a holding cell again?"

 

"No, we do not want to need to fight with the military of this land as we did with yours, but we also cannot let ourselves be changed by our fears of what might be." Like Asami, Korra spoke without anger, but she spoke firmly. "Once we place ourselves above those around us, deciding that our own ease and hiding is more important that the lives and well-being of other people, then we will have become people who _deserve_ to be hunted. And if we become too frightened of the reactions of others, burying ourselves under an outward shell that never lets our true self shine, then what will we be?"

 

"Besides, I do not think today will be a problem," Asami interjected. "Korra performed no bending during our fight, and I did not use any of the combat devices I have constructed. What is to distinguish it from any other physical confrontation anywhere else in the nation?"

 

Judith paused at Asami's words and mentally re-played the fight in her mind. She had not noticed it at the time, but Asami was right, none of their special abilities or technological advancements had been on display. Korra had beaten up her opponent using only her wooden staff, and Asami had simply grappled and thrown the other man. Korra had even unwound her metal cables by hand to tie them up afterwards. To anybody observing it would have looked like absolutely normal, non-magical violence. The kind which would pass unnoticed by people looking for terrorists, foreign agents or whatever they now thought Korra and Asami were. "Oh, I guess...uh...yeah, I guess you're right."

 

Korra and Asami both grinned at her, and she felt embarrassed that she had not noticed they were holding back earlier in the day. "We have now spent many weeks avoiding attention from your military, and have had much time to consider how we should present ourselves to the public. As we said, we will no longer hide ourselves, and we will not let somebody else suffer for our own sake, but you do not need to worry about a small confrontation like this. It was only three criminals, it will take something a lot more difficult than that to cause us problems."

 

As one, they turned back to the fire and finished eating their dinner.

 

* * *

 

 

"Isn't this a little....uh...." Tapeesa's voice faded away in the middle of her sentence, and Judith looked up from keeping a very close look at the ground in front of her feet to cast a sidelong look.

 

"What was that?"

 

"Nothing. Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

 

"Ooooookay...." Judith turned a second sidelong look at Tapeesa, who looked like she wanted to finish her thought for the sake of getting it out.

 

"I was just...I was thinking that this is a little bit dangerous, with all the horror stories you hear on the news, and I was about to say that it was a bad idea and we shouldn't court trouble. After all, we're four attractive young women all alone in the woods with nobody who knows where we are and no way of communicating with anybody. They make horror movies which start that way, and for us to _voluntarily_ get into a stranger's car..." She said it in a rush, forcing it out before she could catch herself, and then she was looking down at the ground to avert Judith's eyes. For her part, Judith let out a short, quiet chortle, and reached over to nudge Tapeesa's shoulder (Lightly, so not to overbalance herself). "Hey, I know it sounds ridiculous saying it, but I'm still getting used to our wild and dangerous life on the road. This is new to me."

 

"I know, it's fine. In a different situation I'd probably say it was the right kind of thinkng. But I think that, maybe just this once, we're not really in a situation where we need to be concerned." Slightly in front of them, Korra and Asami were walking backwards along the side of the road, arms extended out horizontal and with thumbs extended in the hitchhiking pose she had shown them earlier in the day. "If we happen to wind up in some creep's car _he's_ going to be the one in trouble." Tapeesa chuckled in turn at the remark, and turned back to the road.

 

They had been on the road for hours now, walking down the smooth pavement at the sedate pace mandated by Judith's still-growing familiarity with her assisted walking. The idea of hitchhiking had come up the night before as the obvious solution to their immediate transportation problems, since they did not have the money for either a vehicle of their own or a bus/train ticket, and Korra and Asami had been trying to flag down a car for the past several miles. Nobody had stopped so far, but the traffic itself had been very light in this rural area so they had not grown discouraged.

 

A short while later, the roar of an engine changed pitch behind them and Judith and Tapeesa both slowed and turned at the sound of a vehicle slowing down. It was the first indication that somebody would be willing to stop for them, so they were not inclined to be picky, but Judith nonetheless felt her eyebrows try to rise as she found herself looking at an honest-to-god VW Microbus painted in bright tie-dye primary colors. Not only that, but the driver behind the wheel had long, wild hair tied back with a bandana, complete with sunflower tucked over his ear. The entire image was preposterous, it looked like the most ridiculous cliche imaginable, and for a second she was tempted to look around for a hidden camera recording the prank. There was no camera, however, only the surreal, maddening image of a hippie stopping by the side of the road to pick up a set of hitchhikers.

 

"Judy, is this.....are you seeing this, too?"

 

"Yeah, 'Saw. I see it, too."

 

Grinning, the driver behind the wheel stuck his head out the window and shouted out. "Hey, you guys need a ride somewhere?"

 

* * *

 

 

"So....you aren't going to ask about the van at all? It's normally something people want to tackle before they'll even climb inside."

 

They had been driving for close to half an hour after Chester Armitage had picked them up, and all four of them had studiously avoided mentioning anything at all about the appearance of the van or its driver. Judith imagined that Korra and Asami simply did not realize how out-of-the-ordinary it was, and she and Tapeesa were both just grateful for being inside and sitting on a soft seat.

 

"It is a very interesting van," Asami said. "Longitudinal rear-engine, correct? I have read about this development, and done some experimenting, but have not done much driving in such a vehicle, and none at all with this body frame. How does the engine placement interact with the rear-wheel drive?"

 

"Uh.....it's.....good?" Chester was visibly confused at the question. "I guess? I meant more the _color_ rather than the mechanics. People usually see the tie-dye before they ask about the engine."

 

"We're just happy you stopped, we were out there for hours without any response at all...except for a few shouts out the window I won't repeat." Tapeesa leaned forward to draw attention away from Asami. "Although, now that you've brought it up....what's with the van?"

 

"It was my uncle's, he was _big_ into the '60's and I didn't have the heart to change it after he let me have it. A little of it rubbed off on me, too." He grinned out from under his heavy hair and reached up to resettle the flower that had come loose.

 

"Well, I'm glad the Peace and Love part stuck at least."

 

"Hey, why drive a 'bus if you're going to sit in it alone? I've got the space, might as well lend a helping hand and be happy to do it. I can't believe you guys were trying to reach Florida on foot."

 

"We weren't going to go the whole way alone," Judith tried to remember the cover story they had given as they climbed in. "We've got train tickets with family near Idaho. We just wanted to get there our own way. Plus....I needed to spend some time walking outside. Since my accident I haven't had the opportunity." She tried very hard to blush and look vulnerable, hoping to deflect any further questions or inquiries into her 'accident' or why somebody who needed leg braces was out hiking.

 

"Ah, I gotcha." Whether she had managed to sell the vulnerable don't-pry-I'm-fragile angle (Given Tapeesa's side-eye stare she doubted it) or if he was just somebody who did not feel like prying, Chester did not delve further into their immediate goals. Instead he reached out to the dashboard and asked "So, what kind of music do you want?"

 

Much to her surprise, Korra and Asami both practically lept forward at the question and began to dive at the controls. Talking over and through and around each other, they began to pelt Chester with questions over his musical tastes and experiences, fighting with the radio to bring up a station they seemed determined to find. Smiling out of the corner of her mouth, Judith leaned back into the soft, welcoming seat and closed her eyes. It was still early in the day, but despite her improvements walking still took a lot out of her, and as something energetic she could not identify began to pour from the speakers she slipped into a light doze without even noticing.

 

When the van bumped over a hump in the road Judith was startled awake, and as she blinked her way back towards consciousness she became aware that Tapeesa and Chester were arguing vehemently about something. Not, not _arguing_ , they did not seem to be in conflict, but they were both certainly very energetic about whatever the topic was.

 

"....you see, it's not that he does anything _wrong_ , far from it, she just does it so much **better**."

 

"Hey, you don't need to sell me, you're preaching to the choir. I always played both for completion's sake, but if I had to choose, it's no choice at all."

 

"I'm the same way, no question. I ran through every option at least once just to see what they did with it, but Jennifer Hale had my heart from the very beginning. If only they'd put in that FemShep/Tali romance we've been screaming about it'd be perfect."

 

" **Thank** you! I tell you, half the reason I romanced Traynor was that she's the closest we get to a Tali pairing. Think about it; she's the self-conscious newbie, a tech expert who's nervous and overawed by everybody around her and comes with a _ridiculously_ sexy accent. She practically **is** Tali."

 

"Oh My God, you're _right!_ I never even considered that! I usually stuck with Liara so I could have a single continuous romance all the way through, but I think you just completely converted me."

 

Clearly coming in too late to understand the entire subject, and still somewhat foggy from her sleep, Judith sat up and burst into the conversation, half-accusingly demanding " _Who_ are you romancing?"

 

Chester and Tapeesa both stared at her in confusion for a moment (When she noticed Chester staring at her and not at the road Judith realized that Asami was driving. When had that happened?), then both burst out laughing.  Deep, hearty belly laughs that stole their breath for close to a minute, and Judith had to fight a smile of her own as it continued.  Whatever she had interrupted it was clearly important to both of them, and she was happy to see Tapeesa so animated (She had not been this energetic about anything since before they had been apprehended by the RCMP over a week ago), and even if she did not understand whatever joke she had stumbled into she had already forgotten the half-suspicion which her half-hearing had stimulated.  "I think I'm missing the story."

 

"No, Judy, it's not....oh, god" Tapeesa tried to force her words out, running headfirst into a new passel of giggles, and eventually Chester had to speak up and explain for.

 

"It's a video game we both play, not....not an actual **romance** _._ It's a role-playing game, your character meets other characters and you can start a relationship with certain people.  These are all different characters you can meet."  Managing to get out the explanation, Chester himself fell back into soft laughter.  "We were just talking about our preferences for which version of the main character to play as, and our preferred romantic options."

 

"Oh....okay."  Judith had not played video games for years except for simple, mindless browser games online, but with the energy it seemed to have drawn up in these two.... "What's it about?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Safety Advice: Hitchhiking really does contain numerous dangers, both from the circumstances, environment and people encountered while doing so, particularly for young women. Please, before you attempt, think long and hard about the risks and whether there are any alternatives available to you. Few of us have Korra and Asami there to help in the event that a creepy van pulls up (Sans pseudo-hippy).
> 
> And that's all that we have to talk about in this comment. That's it completely. Nothing else at all. Nope, not a thing.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


	103. Chapter 103

Though they were loathe to admit it, circumstances on the road were actually more difficult than they had ever been while wandering in the wilderness of Canada or traversing the ocean. In the areas surrounding towns and small cities wild game was much less plentiful, proving difficult to obtain enough food for their comfort. At the mercy of the kindness of strangers for their transportation, they often found themselves walking along a roadway for hours without any offer of a further ride. Korra could not even put on demonstrations of bending for the amusement (And subsequent monetary compensation) of passersby as they had done after leaving Montreal, since they did not want to attract any attention from such an event when they had no sure means of traveling to a different area and thus avoiding the government follow-up. After days of travel their situation was approaching desperate, and if Korra and Asami had not almost literally bumped into a family that was moving the day before, and been able to offer assistance in carrying packages out to a truck for minor compensation, they would have found themselves at the very real risk of not having food for the evening.

 

It was a week into their journey across the United States that Asami noticed an opportunity for them to alleviate their drastic funds shortage, at least minutely. They had crossed into the territory of Idaho earlier in the day, assisted by an elderly woman who had been driving all night saying she was 'looking for the Lord', and found themselves near what was, they had come to judge, a large-but-dying town for the region. Many of the buildings were dilapidated, with few open businesses and many boarded-up storefronts, but there were still people on the street to indicate that it had not completely failed yet. Just down the road from what seemed to be the main thoroughfare was a large building that had the look of a tavern, or other sort of night entertainment. It was closed now, lights off and curtains drawn given that it was only an hour or two past noon, but out in front of the door was a large sign. As they walked past it Asami had stopped and pointed to the broadside, which proudly proclaimed:

 

"FIGHT NIGHT TONIGHT! GRAND PRIZE $500.00!"

　

* * *

 

　

"This feels like a ridiculous idea," Judith said later in the day as they returned to the establishment, which now had a starting trickle of people milling about. "You can't seriously be thinking about signing up for a pit fight in a redneck bar."

 

"I do not know if the fight will be in a pit," Asami said, "but I do believe it will be serious. What does the color of anybody's neck have to do with it?"

 

"No, it doesn't mean....you're doing that on purpose now, aren't you?" Judith's tone was wry, and Asami only grinned in response. "We have no idea what they actually mean by 'fight night', and I'm pretty sure it won't be a friendly supervised sparring match. Places like this can get vicious and _ugly_."

 

"Do not worry," Korra interjected, "this is not my first exposure to underground fighting. Besides, we **do** need the money, and I believe this to be much less risky than us exposing our identities in some other way."

 

"Yeah, and are you really worried about their safety? Really? _Really?_ " Tapeesa's voice had an edge of thrill behind her, the kind of excitement that she had shown back home before everything had gotten so difficult. "We're there for half an hour, smack somebody around, and then we're flush."

 

"Five hundred dollars won't buy us a mansion, 'Saw."

 

"No, but a couple of train tickets, or knowing that we'll be able to hit a diner for dinner, will go a long way to settling my stomach."

 

The tantalizing thought of having worry-free food, or a soft seat in heated train car where she could rest her aching bones, stole away whatever words Judith might have retorted with as they walked up to the entrance. Next to the door stood a casually dressed man waving people inside, and he grinned expansively as the four of them walked up. At least, he grinned at Korra, Asami and Tapeesa; his eyes flicked over Judith's leg braces and crutch quickly and he rotated ever so slightly to the side to not face her directly.

 

"Well, good evening ladies and welcome. I don't believe I've seen you in these parts before, you new in town?"

 

"Hello." Asami stepped forward. "We are here for the 'Fight Night' tonight. How do we sign up?"

 

"Sign up? No need to worry, you're bright and early and we've got plenty of seats, there's no sign-up. Just grab one of the chairs around the ring." His grin widened a little bit, edging on becoming an outright leer. "Of course, if you really want one of the best seats, I could clear them out for you. Get you set up right next to me, finest view we got." He leaned forward just a little bit. "So close you can _smell_ 'em."

　

"No, we do not want to watch, we want to be in the fight."

　

The man's smile faltered a little bit, as if he had not quite understood her. "Like I said, you're right up front."

　

Judith was about to interject on Asami's behalf, her mastery of the English still was not perfect, but before she could say anything Asami leaned forward herself. She smiled a little bit wider and tilted her head, and her entire mien shifted so instantly and completely that Judith had to fight off a comical double-take. Suddenly giving off an aura of sweet helplessness, just aching for help, she said "We were hoping to _participate_ in the fight tonight."

　

"Uh....I think you've got the wrong idea." The doorman finally seemed to have realized that Asami was not talking about just watching for the evening. "This isn't a mudwrestling setup we have here."

　

"I know, we are here for the $500.00 Fight Night you have," and she pointed to the sign which was still on display, then reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder, a delicate soft touch that she matched with her smile, and then....to Judith's eyes, it looked like she _squeezed_. "Can you please help us with that?"

　

His voice was suddenly very strained and it looked like his knees were locking as he forced out "Of course! Right through the entrance and to the left, Mikey's at a table and he'll get you set up. No Problem!"

　

"Thank you for your help." Keeping the same dazzling smile, Asami released her hold on his shoulder and he sagged against the wall, then all four of them walked inside.

　

"I will go speak with Mikey," Asami said, "Please find us seats to watch." She and Korra walked off towards the man sitting beside a small stand, and Judith and Tapeesa looked around to see what exactly they were signing up for. The building looked like any of a hundred different dive locales; there was a bar stretched along one wall, some tables scattered around the floor space and a staircase leading up to a second floor, and off to the left was....Judith had to fight off a groan as she saw that it was an **actual** pit. The hole in the floor dropped down six feet onto a dirt surface, with seats ringing around its edges and even before the fighting began the air carried the tangible _feel_ of blood and sweat and pain from previous fights.

　

"'Saw, I'll say it again, this isn't right."

　

"Let it go Judy. Korra can literally blow the roof off the building, she can handle whatever local tough guy shows up to these things."

　

"'Saw, it's not...trust me on this, a bar fight is different than what we've done so far. The whole point is not to set up a flare, so Korra can't do any bending, and the type of drunk shitkicker who needs the validation to sign up for this will _enjoy_ being able to be brutal with a girl like Korra. I've been here before."

　

"What? You've never been to Idaho--"

　

"Not **here** before, I mean....arrrgh, you and Asami are going to drive me insane."

　

"Judy, please, _relax_."

　

How many times they might have gone in circles again in the exact same discourse was interrupted as Asami and Korra came back, leaning over the edge of the pit and looking down.

　

"So, it **is** a pit." Asami's tone was as wry as it had been outside. "You were right Joo Dee."

　

"How did it go?" Tapeesa asked, avoiding Judith's gimlet stare.

　

"Well," Korra said, "Mikey was much more cooperative than the doorman. Asami is all signed up."

　

"Great!" Tapeesa said, "I can almost feel that money in my hands and---wait, _Asami_ is signed up?"

　

"Oh course," Korra said. "Who did you think was going to be fighting tonight?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would not believe how hard it was to finish the chapter. Not because of anything about the writing, but about two hours ago I started watching song sections from various Disney movies and I have just been **stuck**. Each one leads to another, and I've hit _The Little Mermaid_ , _Mulan_ , _Aladdin_ , _The Princess and the Frog_ , _The Lion King_ , and _Corpse Bride_ (And while writing this note _Hercules_ started. For its flaws, they had a heck of an opening number), and the only reason I haven't hit _Frozen_ is that the soundtrack was already playing for my music ambiance before I started this YouTube walk. I'm lucky I escaped to finish writing, it is _addictive_
> 
> Regarding this chapter itself, I did hit some unusual blockages in the middle. When they were talking to the bouncer/doorman I kept trying to write this bit where Judith had to step in and essentially rescue Asami when the language/custom barriers meant she couldn't get anywhere with the bouncer/doorman who kept trying to flirt and get the group of ladies to sit with him. Except each time I wrote that it made no sense, since even though they're still not **perfect** English speakers, and they've only been in the USA for a week, Asami is Asami @#$%ing Sato and she would have clued into stuff like that a long time ago. She's not so stupid as to misunderstand somebody condescending to her or flirting.
> 
> Then, after I decided to drop that angle and have Asami work her way through herself I kept trying to put in in this bit where she flirted her way through (Reminiscent of the way she got the guard to chain her to the wall instead of the floor in "Long Live the Queen"), except that didn't make any sense either. Apart from the fact that flirting isn't the way to gain entry into a pitfight, Asami hasn't been forced into that situation like she was in "Long Live the Queen", and she's not a person to default to "Use my sex appeal" at every opportunity. So, that part went away as well.
> 
> It's amazing, she's not even real and Asami's smart and tough enough to boss me around.


	104. Chapter 104

"It's right down--Hey, listen up, girl! It's right down this hallway, the doorway at the end opens into the ring. We'll send you out first, then your opponent, and Mikey will get you fighting."

 

Asami stood in the cramped walkspace which ran beneath the floor of the facility and looked at the raw wood around her. If she had judged it correctly, she was at the moment standing almost directly beneath where Korra, Tapeesa and Joo Dee were sitting, and she stretched up to touch the ceiling (Their floor) and briefly reached out to Korra. Drawing her arm back, she turned to the gruff guide that had walked her down. "Are there any rules in the fight?"

 

"Look, kid, if you don't want to get hurt you shouldn't be here at all. We can't have everybody else go easy on you, and we can't turn it into a tickle fight." There was barely-hidden condescension in his voice, and his eyes walked up and down Asami's body in a different manner than many other men. He was not taking in her appearance as she was, but cataloguing where he expected wounds and injuries to be found in a few minutes.

 

"I am not asking about tickling. I am asking about the rules of the fight I am about to be in which will be awarded prize money from _your_ establishment. If you have no basis for how you award your prizes, I would like to know, and I would ask you to just give me the money now."

 

"...No hits to the groin, no gouges to the eyes, they make the drinkers ache in a way we don't want. You keep going until one of you stays down or taps out. You want it written down for you, too?"

 

"No, thank you, that is all I need." She could not help but wonder if he was this short and snappish with everybody who asked such basic questions, but waved the thought away and turned to the door which would open to the pit--what the staff grandiosely called a 'ring'. Above her, she could hear the rumble of feet on the floor and many loud voices all raised to be heard over the ambient noise, and then the voices roared together. There was another indistinct noise, probably a loudspeaker she guessed, and then the voices roared again, but with a different timbre from before.

 

"Okay, that's you, get out there." The man swung open the door at the end of the short hallway and Asami stepped out into the pit.

 

Mikey, the man who had staffed the table before, stood in the center of the dirt floor and held a microphone in his hands. Pressing in close against the edges of the ring were dozens of peering faces looking down, and Asami slowly rotated to look up at them. Korra, Joo Dee and Tapeesa were exactly where she had thought they would be, and she gave them a small wave--just the barest wiggle of two fingers. The other faces, though, were just a hazy mass of flesh and eyes. Many were shouting and cheering, but others looked confused and uneasy. Glances darted back and forth between her and the other door in the pit, opposite the one she had entered from, and some looked on the border of outright revulsion.

 

"And coming out of the Bull Door, a familiar face who's been down in the ring many times before, Harry the Hammer!" The other door, which Asami now noticed had a stylized design on it that she assumed was meant to be a bull, opened, and out walked her opponent into the center of the ring. He stopped abruptly when he saw Asami, then turned to Mikey and began speaking to him rapidly, but too softly to be heard over the noises of the crowd. Mikey responded in kind, holding the microphone away to keep it from picking up their conversation, and they went back on forth several times before Harry threw up his hands in frustration and turned back to Asami.

 

Looking him over, Asami was not concerned.

 

He was larger than her, but not extravagantly so, and even in just the few steps he took she could tell that he favored one leg. He had callouses and scars on his knuckles, and his nose was crooked from being broken in the past, so he had been in a fight before, but he carried himself heavily and without the casualness of true violence. If she had to guess, she would say that he had had a few scuffles in his youth, and probably taken part in competitions such as these before, but nothing more than that. Especially since he was her opponent in the first fight of the night; he was probably not even respected within these circles and they were getting him out of the way fast, and if she had not been there they would have paired him against some other no-name who had been defeated quickly in a previous event.

 

Mikey had turned back to the audience and raised his microphone again, speaking out to the crowd, and Harry approached and shouted to be heard over the noise. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

 

"I would think that was obvious, I am going to fight you." Asami took care to put in _just_ the slightest edge of condescension into her voice, enough to raise his hackles even though she did not have the familiarity with English to truly banter. Having an aggravated opponent would make things a little bit easier.

 

"Are you looking to get killed or something? This isn't a mudwrestling match!" The man outside had also said that this was not about mudwrestling, and Asami made a mental note to look the term up later to satisfy her own curiosity. Did people in this world really wrestle in mud? Was it so common that they expected other people to assume any kind of fight was meant to be in mud? Was it somehow less dangerous, like everybody here seemed to expect? Whatever it was, that would have to wait as Harry continued, "Back out now before I have to hurt you."

 

"Thank you, but I will be fine. I am not in any danger." She saw his eyes flare as she spoke, and almost felt bad that she was mocking him given that he seemed to be trying to avoid hurting her, but this was a competition that they had both signed up for. "You may withdraw if you are afraid."

 

His eyes flared again and he bit back a hot retort, then just grimaced and said "I'll try not to mess up your pretty face" before he stepped back to his original position.

 

By now Mikey had finished announcing and turned to look at both of them with an inquisitive glance, and they both nodded. Harry raised both arms in what Asami took to be a boxer's stance, and which would have served well in a boxing match, but in a fight on an uneven, dirt floor that was not limited to boxing it only highlighted that he was not somebody truly qualified in combat. Asami faced him by taking a simple stance that could be adapted for several different styles, left side forward and with her arms held up ready to either parry or strike, and waited for the fight to be begin.

 

* * *

 

 

As Korra watched Asami take her stance, she felt an energetic thrill rush through her body. It was partly fear, since despite the confidence she had projected to Joo Dee and Tapeesa (And despite the confidence being truthful and not an affectation) there was always a chance that any confrontation could turn sour in unexpected ways no matter how skilled or prepared you were, but it was primarily excitement. Korra did not enjoy violence, had never enjoyed seeing people hurt or injured, but she had also never stopped loving the energy of motion. The elation of victory, the sensation of triumph that came from matching your skill and training and body against somebody else. It was one reason she had enjoyed Pro-Bending so much back when she had first come to Republic City; that same challenge and exceedance. Now, seeing Asami down in this pit, she felt that same familiar feeling, with a new layer on top that came from the vicariousness of the situation. Asami had watched her in the Pro-Bending arena several times, but this was the first time Korra found herself in that same situation.

 

"Let's get this show rolling!" Mikey gave one last shout, then grabbed onto the ledge of the pit and hauled himself up and out, merging with the throng of people around the edge. There was a clanging bell that rung through the speakers, likely some kind of recording, and then Asami and Harry stalked towards one another. Or rather, _Harry_ stalked forward, heavy steps and leaning forward as if he was pushing against a strong wind, while Asami took only a few small half-steps, letting him close the distance. As they closed to striking distance Harry tossed out a few loping punches, wide swings towards Asami's head that she could easily dodge and which he probably did not expect to land in the first place (Korra guessed he was just feeling her out, and possibly hoping that she would just crumble and quit right there)....and then suddenly it was over. Asami had dodged the last loping punch, then quickly stepped in behind his guard and delivered a single, straight blow directly to his solar plexus. Korra could tell even from above that it had been perfectly delivered, with her body twisting at the hips as her arm extended, delivering the punch with the impact of her entire body concentrated in the single point of her tightly curled fist.

 

Harry fell to his knees almost instantly, gasping and wheezing loud enough to be heard even by the people in the audience. He clutched his stomach with one hand while he supported himself on the other laid flat against the dirt, and his head lowered as he struggled to breathe. Asami knelt down beside him, gently reaching out to lay her hand on the back of his head as she spoke quietly. Her words did not travel, but if Korra knew her they were probably something reassuring and calming, helping him to relax as his body spasmed out of control. In the crowd around her, Korra noticed that almost all sound had disappeared as if a chord had been cut, the only noises coming from further away in the building towards the bar, where people were not watching the fight. Everybody in the audience was staring slack jawed, some with expressions so shocked and confused as to be funny, and it was a full ten seconds before Mikey seemed to remember that he was supposed to be announcing.

 

"Uh...we, uh....we have a winner!"

 


	105. Chapter 105

Asami presumed that there was usually some sort of tradition that followed a fight, maybe a victory celebration, but everybody seemed so surprised at the brevity of the match that she was ushered back through the door she had come from mere moments after her victory was announced. The last she saw of Harry he was slowly clambering back to his feet, still clutching his stomach, and somebody assisted him back through the door he had entered from. Then she was standing beneath the floor again with the same gruff man who had shepherded her through before, though his demeanor had changed in the past few minutes.

 

"That was...uh....nice punch."

 

"Thank you." She wanted to say something more, especially given his earlier reaction to her simple inquiries, but she kept silent and waited to see just what it was that came next. Even she had not originally expected to end the fight with a single blow, but her opponent had left his center open as he advanced and was swinging so widely that it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Hopefully all of the other fighters would be of the same caliber.

 

"I'm not sure what...I mean...just hang out here for a second, let me check on what's coming." He backed down the walkspace and began to speak to somebody at the far end, leaving Asami alone. She reached up as she had done before the fight, lightly tracing her fingers along the wooden beams that separated her from Korra, and imagined that she could feel Korra reaching down at the same moment. One down, she thought, only a few more to go.

 

Bringing back her arm, Asami went through a few basic limbering motions as she waited. She had done her more extensive stretching before she had first entered the cramped conditions beneath the floor, and there was not enough space for a true flexibility workout, but she wanted to keep herself from stiffening up in the time between matches. The chances of her being stuck waiting for so long as to affect her movement was minute, especially if she was able to replicate her easy victory for all subsequent bouts, but she rather not take that chance. You could never tell how things might go surprisingly complicated in any situation, and so she kept her body fresh and loose as her guide continued to talk down at the end of the walkspace.

 

"Okay, here's what we've got." Her guide had returned from his conference and gestured towards the door which led to the pit. "Normally we'd put the next pair out right now to finish out the bracket, but considering how fast that all went down we're going to let you role through to the next bout. Give us a minute to get the next guy over to his door--We weren't planning on calling him for half an hour--and then we'll send you out. You'll go out second this time."

 

"Thank you," Asami said, "I will wait," and she turned back to the door.

 

As she stood there, waiting for the door to open and her next fight to begin, she listened to the sound emanating from the people clustered above and noticed that it was distinctly different from how it had been before her fight. It was quieter, with fewer voices competing with one another, a subtle murmur instead of the wall-shaking thunder it had been before. Still too much to pick out actual words or voices, but Asami could tell that the mood had shifted from 'Excitement' to 'confusion'; these people seemingly had no idea how to react to what they had seen. As they continued to murmur, with more sounds of walking than talking (Asami guessed walking back and forth to the bar instead of standing by the pit with baited breath), there was an indistinct noise that she recognized as the loudspeaker from before. The shouts rose, now even louder than they had been before her first fight, and her guide said "That's Jose coming out, hold on a sec'..." There was more noise from the loudspeaker, another reaction from the crowd, and the guide swung the door open. "Good luck," he said, and then Asami was back out in the pit.

 

Her opponent ('Jose' her guide had called him) already stood opposite her, just on the other side of Mikey, who was in the same announcing position he had been in before. The people around the pit were shouting and cheering, except...she could not make out individual words or voices, but the entire tone was more hostile than it had been before her first fight. They were not just shouting into the air in excitement, but shouting _at_ her. Many were also gesturing, and it all carried a very simple message: They did not want her here.

 

Rather than focus on the shouting crowd, however, Asami turned until she could catch sight of Korra again, and they exchanged simultaneous small smiles. Korra nodded her head towards the crowd around them and Asami could practically hear what she would have said, and Asami chuckled as she bobbed her head in acknowledgement. Then, focusing on where she was, she turned away from the crowd and brought her attention back to her opponent.

 

He already stood in a fighting guard, arms held up in front of him, and Asami judged that he must have been watching the first fight (Or had somebody warn him), since his guard was close to cover his chest and he looked nervous. Not actively scared, as if he thought Asami was a better fighter, but _nervous_ , like he thought she might **trick** him. He was concerned she would defeat him through some sneaky attack, and so was protecting his center against the one move he knew she knew. Seeing his stance, Asami felt even less concern for the upcoming fight than she had when facing Harry the Hammer; he was another one of the people not even respected within this fighting community, and he probably would have been the person to fight Harry if she had not been entered into the competition. However, as she had just been thinking while going through her stretches, there was always the chance for the situation to go in an unexpected direction, and she had no intention of letting herself be surprised by taking the fight anything less than completely seriously. Instead of assuming a lazy or off-balance stance herself, she took the same general position she had before, ready for whatever kind of skills he had.

 

Mikey finished his announcements over the loudspeaker and climbed out of the pit, leaving just Asami and Jose, and then the sound of the bell echoed through the loudspeaker. The hall got completely silent for an instance, as if the entire crowd had chosen the same moment to suck in a deep breath, except for a single voice which could be heard shouting out "Mess that bitch up!" If the shout had come at any other moment it would have been swallowed by all the other voices, but right then it could be heard loudly and clearly. So too could the response which immediately followed; the unmistakable sound of an open palm slapping bare skin and another voice shouting "What the hell did you just say Freddie?" Instantly contrite, the first voice came back, "Nothing Suzie, I'm sorry," and then the rest of the crowd was talking again and smothered any distinguishable meaning.

 

In the pit, both Asami and Jose had paused at the exchange, neither moving from their starting positions, but now Jose came churning in. Much like Harry he began to throw out punches as soon as they closed within his reach, but unlike Harry these were direct, straightforward punches, not wide lopers. He had clearly taken the previous match to heart and was not exposing his center for an instant, and he was trying to barrel through her guard and close to where he could pummel Asami directly.

 

Asami backed up slightly at each blow, staying _just_ outside of his reach and letting him throw punch after punch....after punch after punch...after punch. In only a few seconds he was breathing heavily and covered in a sheen of sweat, but still throwing out strikes as fast as he could, and Asami let him work himself to exhaustion at his heart's content. After a minute he had visibly slowed, and there was a tremor to his arms that would have been visible even to the people in the audience, but he kept coming on directly and Asami felt almost felt sorry for him. He showed no intention of slowing his linear assault, and Asami knew she could actually just keep withdrawing and let him exhaust himself until he passed out, winning without even throwing a single punch of her own. However, to let him work until collapse seemed almost mean-spirited, and besides, Asami was growing tired herself of walking in circles around the edge of the pit.

 

As Jose launched his next punch, overextending his right arm and overbalancing himself, Asami stepped into him instead of away. His lack of any reaction showed that he had been on autopilot for a long time now, not even really recognizing where she was, and he did not adjust himself at all as she reversed her previous evasions. Their positioning meant that Asami could not deliver the same kind of singular disabling blow as in the previous match, Jose was rotated slightly to the side and presented the side of his chest and rib cage to her. Asami grabbed his extended right arm with her left and _pulled_ , adding her own force to his overextension and lurching him forward, straight into her own right-arm punch. Aimed much lower than his blows had been, she connected with the side of his torso beneath the edge of his ribcage, and she collided with all the strength of her punch _and_ all the force of his own forward momentum.

 

As he began to shout at the blow, which Asami knew he must have felt all throughout his torso, she repositioned herself and tugged on his right arm, which she had never released. Bringing her right leg forward and stepping behind his stance, she pulled on his arm and twisted her own torso, bending him to the side and off-balance. As he tried to step back and keep his balance he was caught by her trapping leg, and under the combined pressure of her grip on his arm and his trapped leg support he lost his balance and dropped to the ground onto his back. Groaning from the impact, it was several seconds before he even began to look around and regain his awareness, and Asami was standing above him with her arm cocked back and a single eyebrow raised in question.

 

Jose opened his mouth and tried to speak, but the first time his lips moved no sound came out, but on the second he managed to gasp "I give" and weakly slapped his arm against the ground.

 

Nodding her head, Asami relaxed her guard and dropped to her knees next to him, reaching out and gingerly feeling his ribs where she had punched him, checking to make sure she had not accidentally cracked the bone or done more damage than she meant to. Behind her the crowd started screaming again, and she could barely hear Mikey's announcement of her victory.

 


	106. Chapter 106

As Asami disappeared back into the doorway that lead out of the pit, Korra turned to Joo Dee and Tapeesa, who were both looking out over the rest of the crowd. There was a lot of muttering around them, soft words that nonetheless had harsh tones, and many furtive glances thrown towards the door Asami had disappeared behind. Clearly many people in the crowd were unhappy with her performance, although given the reaction to that one man's shout before the fight it was not unanimous. As it was, while they waited for the next fight to begin Tapeesa turned her gaze away from the crowd and asked Korra, "Why aren't you down there?"

 

"I do not believe Asami was hurt in the fight, I do not think she needs my help."

 

"No, I mean, why aren't you fighting instead of her?"

 

"Why would I?"

 

"Because....that is....uh....Judy, you want to help me out here?"

 

"Hey, don't look at me," Joo Dee determinedly kept her eyes on the pit, not looking at either Korra or Tapeesa. "I was against us coming in here in the first place no matter who wound up in the pit."

 

"Yeah, but...come on!"

 

"Asami is the better choice for this type of fight." Korra recognized what Tapeesa was trying to say, and began to explain. "I have been bending for my entire life, and all of my training has used the bending forms and styles. It is part of who I am, and not something I can easily repress. If the fight became difficult or strenuous, I might begin bending by reflex, even accidentally, and we want to avoid giving away that kind of exposure. Why take that risk?" She grinned suddenly, and her eyes tracked upwards, as if following a distant memory. "In fact, in my very first Pro-Bending match I was only supposed to do waterbending, but I got so frustrated that I started earthbending right in the middle of the match. It revealed to everybody watching that I was the Avatar. Tenzin was listening on the radio and he was _furious_."

 

Her eyes came back down as she emerged from the memory. "Besides, Asami is probably the better non-bending fighter anyway, even if exposure was not a concern."

 

" _Probably_ the better non-bending fighter?" Asami's voice suddenly burst into the conversation as she dropped down to sit next to Korra, squeezing in tightly given how many people were packed around. She flung her arm over Korra's shoulder and pulled tightly, then asked deadpan, "Why only 'probably'?"

 

"We never have really _fought_ , have we? I do not think that question will ever be settled until we do."

 

"Well then, we have to settle it, do we not? Maybe we can try it as 'mudwrestling', since it seems to be a local sport." Tapeesa could not stifle her reaction, and Asami quirked an eyebrow at her.

 

"I'm sorry, did you just...did you say you two should _mudwrestle_?"

 

"Several people have mentioned it tonight, and it seems to be regarded as less dangerous than full combat, so it would seem to be the perfect opportunity. Why, what does it mean?"

 

"I don't....mudwrestling is.....Judy, _help me out here_!" Tapeesa had begun to turn a bright crimson, apparent even on her dark complexion, and looked to Joo Dee with pleading eyes.

 

"I already said to leave me out of this." Joo Dee's small smile belied her rejection, and she had even begun to blush as well. "Tell you what, I'll explain it to you two later."

 

" _Thank_ you." Tapeesa's face was still flush, and she tried to bring the conversation back around to a less inflammatory topic. "Why do you say that Asami is probably the better fighter?"

 

"Better _non-bending_ fighter," Korra quickly interjected, and laughed as Asami lightly slapped her arm. As Korra continued to chuckle, Asami picked up and continued the explanation as if she had been following along on Korra's thoughts. "It is all about experience. I have never had bending, never been able to rely on the power or the opportunities it presents, so I have had to compensate with just my body and mind. Every struggle we have been in, no matter how big or small, has served to help me refine and perfect my technique. It has been ingrained into my blood and bone in a way that Korra has not."

 

Joo Dee was nodding her head as Asami explained, "Practice and drilling."

 

"Yes. We all have our areas of experience."

 

Tapeesa nodded, "Okay, I get it, but...wait, why are you up here and not downstairs? Is...is the night over?" She looked around confusedly, with the entire crowd still pressed closely around the fighting pit, and she actually saw Mikey hopping back down into the pit at that moment with his microphone as he had done before each of the preceding matches.

 

"No, but I will not be in the next several matches." Down in the pit, Mikey began announcing the next fighters, and there was a more generally positive response from the audience than when Asami had been announced, although there was also plenty of seemingly good-natured mockery shouted as well. "There will be three more fights before I return. This is a bracketed tournament, everybody has at least one fight and the winners of each fight will then fight each other to determine the winner of the grand prize. I will rest now and observe the other fighters, and I will return when it is my turn again."

 

Down in the pit the two new fighters had both come out of their doorways and squared off, starting to exchange heavy blows. Asami kept her eyes focused on the fight, cataloguing their movements and techniques for future reference. "I do not foresee any problems for the rest of the evening in the fights themselves, but we have not yet seen all of the participants."  As the damage on the fighters mounted up, bruises and blood beginning to show on their skin, she leaned forward.  "We will not know how everything will turn out until the night is over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say, formally and for the record, that this sequence of events was _not_ conceived of just to have an excuse to get Korra and Asami talking about mudwrestling. It just....it just sort of _happened_...


	107. Chapter 107

The same recording of a bell rung from the loudspeakers, and for the first time that evening Asami had to dart back in ernest to avoid a swinging strike that closed in on her head. The blow was relatively slow, far slower than her own rapid attacks, but it moved with such power that she could feel the winds of its passage rifle her hair. An instant later a second blow followed the first, traveling in the other direction as part of a competently executed strike combo, and Asami darted back again and began raising her appreciation of her opponent's skill. Given his placement in the second fight to come after her own, and having already won that match, she had realized that he had to have some modicum of skill, but the fight she had observed had been settled more with brute force than technique. She had assumed that brute force was all he had at his disposal, but now it seemed that he had been holding something back.

 

He came in again and Asami jumped back to stay out of his reach, and that was difficult given just how _much_ reach he had. He was one of the singularly largest people Asami had ever seen, more than seven feet tall and covered with fat on top of muscle until he just looked _massive_. She appraised that he had to weigh more than four hundred pounds, and with the strength he had put into each of the two blows she had dodged he might have been able to end the fight if he made contact even once. If it turned out that he had even a basic level of training to complement his massive physical advantage this might just be a fight that Asami could not win, especially given that this was a sporting event and not a real life-or-death struggle; there were disabling moves that could be effective against somebody even so large, but she did not wish to permanently cripple him for the sake of $500.00. So, she continued to stay out of his reach and looked for an opportunity.

 

He came in directly, and it was clear he had the same thoughts that she did regarding their relative sizes; he wanted to get in close and end the fight with a few singular blows. He brought up his right arm in a telegraphed striking move, forcing Asami to withdraw again, but he withdrew that punch and instead moved forward with a shorter left-handed attack. It did not have the same brick-crushing power as his earlier blows given the lack of full-body motion, but the right-fake had allowed him to close the distance and Asami barely had time to slip to the side and avoid a direct collision from the actual punch. As it was he still caught her with a glancing blow, and pain flared across her shoulder as her entire body spun with the motion and she was nearly flung off her feet. The crowd roared when he made contact, screaming their excitement, and Asami scrambled backwards to avoid the follow-up attack that might very well have flattened her against the wall.

 

Still, at least she could take the compliment that he was not going easy on her. It seemed she had at least earned _his_ respect.

 

Fighting the urge to clutch her shoulder--she could already feel the heavy throbbing that indicated that the muscle might have been bruised--Asami let him close and then moved onto the offensive herself. If she just waited and waited he would eventually get lucky, so she faked her own strike--moving slightly to the side to position herself as she had been when she brought down Jose--and when he twisted to keep himself from being grappled she shifted around his guard and delivered her own double-strike to his chest just beneath his sternum. They were not as perfectly positioned as the single punch which had downed Harry the Hammer, but they were both delivered with as much energy as she had concentrated into that earlier lone attack.

 

After making contact her hands actually **hurt**.

 

It felt like she had punched a wooden plank covered by a layer of fabric--a _thin_ layer of fabric--and she had only the barest fraction of a second to recognize the sensation before he bellowed and wildly swung his arm across his body. It was unfocused, and Asami evaded the arc with ease, but it forced her back and gave him the breaths he needed to refocus and begin to steadily advance once again. The crowd erupted again, now filled with glee and mocking laughter as they saw him loom over her, and Asami had to focus on tuning them out. Whatever his background, this man was on an entirely different level from the two schlubs she had faced earlier, and she needed to concentrate. Concentrate on his movements and his options, on the opportunities afforded by his size, and analyze how she could counteract them. She had defeated larger opponents many times before, even Harry and Jose had had the reach and weight advantage in their fights, and always by being _better_ than them. She just had to expand her thinking a little due to the _scale_ of this one.

 

She let him push the pace of the fight for a bit, dodging and retreating before his blows as she considered her options. He was too big, on every scale, for her to take him out with any kind of individual precision stike, as she had just learned. She could probably whittle him down eventually with continuous blows, constant strikes to his soft tissue that would add up despite his durability, but the odds of him catching her again was too great, especially since even an indirect strike left her shoulder still tingling. If this had been a real fight, a challenge against life or limb, she would have focused on the joints of his leg as she had done when they were attacked by the motorcyclists outside of Montreal; even a man his size would be stopped by a boken knee, but she could not bring herself to make such a callous move in a 'friendly' competition. Backing up again, reaching up to smack at his wrist to deflect a blow that came close to clipping her ear, she felt the wall of the pit behind her and she rotated to move in a different direction and--the wall. The hard, thick, sturdy, **_wall_**.

 

She made a conscious effort to keep any kind of smile from appearing on her face, any outward indication that anything had changed, and continued to back away across the pit, drawing him out towards the center of the floor. When they reached the approximate middle of the large circle she threw a few desultory punches, hopefully to keep him thinking that she was still trying the direct approach, then began to withdraw a _little_ bit faster. Not enough to call it a run, but he had to increase his own speed to keep pace, and his steady attack rhythm began to falter. She sped up a little bit more, now approaching a slow backwards jog, and he sped up to match, and right in the middle of one of his punches Asami reversed direction and almost jumped forward. Except instead of attempting any kind of punch or kick she brought her foot down on top of the toes of the foot he had firmly placed on the ground for balance. Not as a stomp, but just to trap the foot in place when the other was off the ground as part of his forward movement. He reacted with admirable speed, Asami could feel him beginning to move as soon as she trapped his foot, but his intertia was too great. Leaning back and grabbing the arm he had aleady extended in his punch, Asami _pulled_ with all of the strength running down her extended body, and with the impetus of his own forward motion combined with her trapping and pulling he lost almost all control over his own direction.

 

Raising her foot once she had stolen his balance, so as to not lose her own, Asami began to rotate, dragging him along with her as he fougth to retain his own balance and keep from being thrown to the floor. He succeeded in remaining upright, and in a few seconds had regained most of his balance so he was almost just running in a circle, but he never noticed just where it was that Asami had led him. Right before he would have broken out of her grasp, or perhaps attempted to use her hold to draw her in and end the fight himself, Asami twisted one last time and slammed him into the wall at a pace almost as fast as a flat-out run.

 

The impact resonated like a small explosion, echoing despite the acoustics of the room and all the ambient noise, and the building itself shook. Dust fell from the rafters overhead and leapt up from the ground, and many people in the audience screamed in surprise and fear, not excitement. Then everything grew quiet again, with everybody wondering just what had happened, and then the dirt floor of the pit shook as the fighter fell flat on his back and lay insensate on the ground. Blood had already begun to drip from his nose and mouth--likely broken and missing teeth, Asami thought--and his entire front was marked where his skin had crashed into the wood, knicked and abraded as if he had been attacked by sandpaper.

 

Asami stood next to where he fell, arms up in a fighting guard again in case he got back up, but after a few seconds it was clear that he would not be continuing the fight any time soon. Relxaing her stance, she bowed her head and let her hands rest on her knees, supporting herself and breathing deeply after the heavy strain and exertion of the fight. It was close to a minute before she stood up straight again, after Mikey had already announced her as the winner, and looked around at the crowd surrounding the pit.

 

There was very little noise, no cheering or heckling. Instead, almost everybody was staring at her with wide eyes and shocked expressions, and she grinned up at them.

 

"So, when is the next fight?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to have at least one fight in this story where the simple size disparity meant that an opponent could not be overcome in a direct physical confrontation, because that's often how it is in real life. Skill is important, but if one opponent outweighs the other by 100 pounds (Or by 250 pounds, in this case) it's almost guaranteed that they will win the fight. That's one reason real-life fighting competitions are divided into weights classes; skill simply does not erase the **massive** advantage conveyed by body type. So, even though Asami is Asami @#$%ing Sato, she cannot beat up a guy who could body double for the Big Show by punching him, it just doesn't work that way. What she _can_ do, however, is be awesome in _other_ ways and use the environment to her advantage.
> 
> Asami's takedown is inspired somewhat by Korra's fight with the Doorman during "The Revelation". The moves themselves are different, but in both cases they use the larger opponent's size and inertia to knock him out against the solid environment around them.


	108. Chapter 108

When the recorded bell rang on the final fight Asami made the first move for the first time in the evening, hoping to get a gauge of her opponent. After the powerhouse she had faced in the last fight she wanted to pressure this one into a move, _any_ move, so that she could plan the rest of the encounter accordingly. Whether he attacked or withdrew, feinted or blocked, his reaction would indicate _something_ , and from there she could formulate her follow-up strategy. The response he _did_ give was most telling.

 

He flinched.

 

It was tiny, so small it could almost have been mistaken as just a part of him resettling himself in his stance, but Asami recognized the reflexive twitch, and she recognized all that it indicated. Earlier she had had to fight against letting a grin show on her face, suppressing the reaction so that her opponent would not start to look for the idea that had changed her outlook, but now she felt the very edges of her lips curl in a smirk, the slighest image of a smile growing as she realized that she had already won the fight.  The physical struggle that would come over the next few minutes was almost a formality, practically a part of the victory celebration, since the most critical part of the contest had already come and gone and left her as the victor: He was afraid.

 

This was the very last bout of the 'Fight Night', the championship match in essence, and he had already been through two fights of his own. There was discoloration and swelling across his face that would grow into bruises and black eyes tomorrow, and there was a tiny brownish smudge on his upper lip that looked like blood from a bloody nose that had been missed while the rest was wiped away. He was clenching his right hand in the loose-fisted pose of somebody whose fingers have begun to go numb and hard to control, and his hunched-shoulder stance was leaning _slightly_ to the left, likely because of an injury to that side of his ribs. He was still on his feet, still capable of fighting, but he was already displaying all of the effects of the rest of the night, already slower and weaker than he had been a few hours ago. Normally his opponent in the last fight of the night would be in a similar condition, carrying his own souveniers from the fighters he had left behind, but this time....across from him Asami stood unmarked and unblemished, arms and legs held firmly in place as part of an unwavering stance, even with her hair neatly tied back and undisturbed. Not even breathing hard, not since she had had time to catch her breathe after her previous match. Uninjured, calm, and apparently ready to beat him up as easily as she had everybody else before him. At the sight of her smirk, her almost arrogant display that she was not even _concerned_ , he seemed to almost sag into himself; such a treatment might have filled him with anger and spurred him to new heights of activity, but instead it just seemed to convince him that the outcome was in the hands of inevitability.

 

Asami's grin grew until it was blatant and impossible to miss, then she feinted to the side and moved forward.

 

* * *

 

 

"Check it out, Max is gonna put her in her place. What the hell was she thinking anyway, coming in here? She was asking for it." Coming from immediately behind Korra, from one of the people that had sat down in these seats only a few minutes before the current match, the voice was thick and slow. Its words were slurred and hesitant, as if unsure of their use, and Korra wondered if the reason its owner had apparently decided to change seats so late in the event had more to do with frequent trips to the bar on the far wall than with anything related to watching the fights themselves.

 

"I dunno Richie, you saw what she did to Saul. Hell, you saw what she did to Harry _and_ Jose." This voice seemed only slightly less thick, and did not seem to notice that fight itself had begun with Asami running forward. It continued in the same tone, "One punch each!"

 

"So she sucker-punched the two biggest losers in the pit, so what?" There was an audible gulp, something Korra could only rarely recall having actually experienced before, and the first voice (Richie, the other one had called him) came back even thicker. "Just another dumb bitch trying to sneak in where she doesn't belong, and too much of a chickenshit to actually take a punch herself. Just you watch, Maxie knows how to handle somebody like that, _he'll_ show her." Like his friend, Richie seemed unaware that the fight was already going on, and his words did not vary in the slightest as Max and Asami's first exchange ended with him scampering backwards to resettle after taking several painful hits and glancing strike to the temple that had him visibly wobbling for a second.

 

"Keith has a point, Richie." This third voice was crystal clear, as steady as anybody, and broke into the conversation just as Max tried for his own assault down in the pit and wound up tossed to the ground, although he scrambled back to his feet quickly. "Jesus, _look_ at her, she's tossing him around like a ragdoll. I wouldn't want to be anywhere _near_ her in the pit."

 

The three-pointed argument behind Korra seemed to be a microcosm of the entire crowd. Many members of the audience had begun to virulently express their anger at Asami, calling for her defeat in such terms that Korra assumed were not normally common in these events, but others seemed to have begun to begrudgingly come around, especially after her fight against Saul, the giant. The crowd was still extremely short with actual _support_ , but many had at least assumed a more respectful silence, and some had even begun to clap desultorily at her victories. Even now there was some approving shouts as Asami brought Max to the ground again.

 

"No, guys you're missing it completely. It doesn't matter, she **can't** win, she doesn't...she doesn't _have it_. Max ain't no pushover, he won't _let_ her win, and that's all it takes. You show 'em you're not gonna let 'em have it their own way and they _crumble_ , just like---huh? Whuzzat?"

 

"That's the bell, Richie. It's over." The third voice, still as clear and steady as it had been, had assumed a very wry tone, and even chuckled slightly as Richie let out a startled curse. Down in the pit, Asami released the armbar she had held Max in and climbed back to her feet, brushing dirt off of her clothing, and extended her hand to give Max assistance. It took him a moment before he grabbed her outstretched arm, although whether it was because he had to decide whether or not to accept her offer or because he simply could not move his arm very rapidly was anyone's guess, and then he was being helped out of the pit.

 

Meanwhile, Mikey had jumped back down into the dirt and walked over to Asami, his expression unreadable as it seemed to try and be impressed, stupefied, aloof, condescending and intimidated all at once. Reaching out to grab her arm, but _very_ slowly and making sure he was not coming up on her from behind, Mikey rasied her hand and raised the microphone. "We have our Fight Night winner!" The response from the audience seemed to be split between haranguing curses and supporting cheers, but it was certainly loud, and his next words were drowned out in the general cacophony.

 

As Mikey spoke words which nobody could hear, and the crowd seemed about ready to have their own sequel to Fight Night right in the seats, Korra turned around to the three people who had been talking behind her.

 

"Max was going to put her in her place, correct?  I must find him later and thank him, it is nice to know her place is as the victor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's always good to have a designated driver, if for no other reason than to point out who is clearly winning the fighting match you're watching.


	109. Chapter 109

"Really, Korra, it's fine, you don't need to bother." Asami's voice had a touch of exasperation as Korra softly traced her fingers around the tingling section of her arm where the giant had managed to make contact earlier. "Nothing's broken, it'll just be a little tender."

 

"Sssshhhhh, keep quiet, and stop _fidgeting_. This will only take me a second." Korra continued to feel her shoulder for a few seconds, then reached over and turned on the faucet in the fighter recovery room (bathroom) they sat in. Drawing out the water, she let it settle over the skin that was already beginning to tinge red, harbinging a deep bruise to come, and began to work the healing waterbending into the muscles. "I don't care if it is 'nothing', when a living MechaTank knocks into you like that, I'm going to worry."

 

Asami could not come up with a response before the feel of the waterbending sunk into her and she moaned on her exhale as the soreness drained out of her shoulder. "Well, I suppose I did just win the money to buy us dinner, so I've earned some pampering." As the focus of Korra's healing shifted, spreading out to other oncoming bruises and exhausted muscles, she exhaled deeply again and began to list slowly to the side as the warmth tried to lull her out of consciousness. "But if you keep this up I'm going fall asleep right here and you're going to need to carry me out."

 

"Don't tempt me," Korra smirked, but she did pick up the pace of her ministrations slightly, and in moments drew back the water and dropped it into the drain of the sink. "There, all done, happy?"

 

Standing up, Asami raised her arm and rotated her shoulder through its full range before grinning. "Very," she said, then grabbed Korra and pulled her in tightly. "Now, let's go get our money and get out of here before the building burns down around us."

 

Out of the recovery (bath)room, the noise level was so high that they could not even hear one another over the shouts of all the patrons. There was so much yelling and jeering and cursing and shoving that it had the appearance more of a riot than an evening's entertainment, and much of the vitriol was directed at Asami herself. However, as she walked forward she also noticed that no mater how crowded the floor was her way was never blocked, and no matter what was shouted at her over the heads of the people around her there was nothing said to her directly. Glancing around, and noticing how quickly everybody else looked away as her gaze passed over them, Asami saw Tapeesa and Joo Dee standing near the bar and began to make her way over with Korra in tow. As a group, after several fruitless attempts to be heard over the ambient volume, they turned back towards the front of the building where Mikey had had his sign-up table set up, and where they expected to find him and their winnings.

 

* * *

 

 

"First things first," Tapeesa said, "we find some place for a sitdown dinner and we **eat**. I don't need fancy, but an actual meal will put everything into a whole new light."

 

"I'll get behind that." The night air was brisk, perhaps already edged over into being _cold_ , and as they left the building Joo Dee huddled in on herself against its bite. "Hot food and a place to sleep will do wonders. Tomorrow we can look at moving further south; if there's a train station nearby with distance travel we can get away from the cold in one long shot."

 

"Agreed," Korra said, "We will look for---"

 

"HEY!" The interrupting shout was loud, but despite its volume it was not very strong. Thick and slurred like so many of the voices that had shouted during the match, it came from a lone man stumbling after them as they walked down the street and away from the building. Behind him, walking only slightly more steadily, came two other men, with a fourth trailing far behind. "Hey, hold it!"

 

Asami arched an eyebrow as he finally reached them. "Yes? Can we help you?"

 

"Yeah, you can...you can...." Even standing still he had trouble keeping upright, and he slowly leaned back and forth as he tried to get out his sentence. "Who the hell are you? Coming in here like that, doing.....who the hell are you?"

 

Before Asami could respond, Korra leaned forward. "Ritchie, I think you have had a long night and it is time for you to go home." At Asami's startled look, she shrugged, "He sat behind us during your last fight." As the men following behind him began to catch up, Korra called out to them. "Keith, please come help Ritchie get home safely."

 

"Yeah, Ritchie, why don't we...uh...why don't we head on home?" Keith reached out to grab onto Richie's elbow, but his own unsteadiness kept him from quite making the connection. "It's getting late..."

 

"It's not late, that's part of the damn problem! We don't get a real fight, we get fifteen minutes of dancing!" He was gesticulating wildly, and pointing so directly that he was almost swinging at Asami. "You can't just mess up everything for the rest of us!"

 

"I did not 'mess up' anything for anybody." Asami took a smooth step back, both to avoid Ritchie's jerky motions and also to escape the powerful breaths he was expelling. "I won the tournament fairly and in direct competition with the other participants. You had no involvement, you have no grievance to make."

 

"This is _my_ bar! These are _my_ fights!" He was screaming now, and his wild motions were much more forward focused at Asami's face. "When you come into _my_ town and---akh!" As Asami guided him down to the ground, she reflected that it was almost unnecessary to pull him down with the way he had no control over his balance.

 

Standing back up, she saw that the fourth man had finally caught up to them, and that he and the other two both were held almost motionless under Korra's stare. They had their hands up and had taken a few steps back from her glare, looking back and forth between her and Asami.

 

"Korra was correct," Asami said, "It is time for you to go home."

 

Nodding, the three men shuffled forward to help Ritchie back to his feet, with the fourth and final man to arrive helping support him with much more stable legs. Mumbling indistinct words, they all began to walk slowly back the way they had came.

 

Watching them for a few moments to make sure they would not turn around, Asami turned to face Korra and Tapeesa and Joo Dee and said, "Hopefully that will be the last fight of the evening. Shall we go get dinner now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and salutations after an undesired (Yet inevitable) hiatus!
> 
> Sorry I've been gone for so long, but the summer season is a very busy time for me at work and I have approximately zero time available for pretty much anything else going on. I don't believe I've had a day off since my last update on 5/5, and sadly that means no time available for writing. I'd actually planned to return this past Sunday for at least one chapter to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Korra and Asami appearing in our world, but...time again. However, I decided to make it back today because of the momentous ruling of the United Sates Supreme Court and the wide-reaching effects it will have on so many lives. I couldn't think how to actually tie it into the story (We're still in last November), but I was getting **something** up to commemorate the day.
> 
> My eternal and boundless thanks to those of you who have been asking about updates, and those who were concerned that my absence might indicate some sort harm or tragedy in my life. Knowing that people actually wanted to keep reading, and had been touched so deeply as to be concerned for my welfare, made me determined to return at my earliest opportunity. I hope the continued story is everything you had hoped it would be.
> 
> Love Wins.


	110. Chapter 110

"Okay, that settles it, we need to get a new motorcycle."  As she climbed out of the cramped bus seat Korra arched her back and pulled her arms behind her, twisting her body to try and reach that  _one_ kink which had been twanging for the past four hours.  "I didn't even need to bend like this during airbending training."

 

Beside her, Asami grimaced and went through her own stretching motions.  "Not that I disagree with the principle, but it might be tricky to fit all four of us on the back of a Harley-Davidson.  Maybe if we tried one of those Goldwings I heard about..."  She cracked a small smile, then started shuffling forward down the narrow aisle leading to the front doors, pausing to let Joo Dee and Tapeesa get out of their own seats.  Despite Joo Dee's continued difficulty with walking unsupported, both she and Tapeesa seemed to move with more alacrity than either Asami or Korra as they left the transport.  "How are you two so functional...uh...I mean..."  Asami blanched as she realized what she had said, but Joo Dee let out a small, crooked smile.

 

"I take it you two don't have a lot of experience traveling on public transportation?"

 

"No, we both...well, I always drove myself ever since I learned how to work a satomobile, or flew on a Future Industries airship."  They had reached the front of the bus now and began shambling down the staircase, with Tapeesa helping Joo Dee go down in small minihops.  "Some of the advantages of being an heiress."

 

"Ah.  Well, after you've flown across the Atlantic squeezed in like sardines in a tin, you learn how to handle cramped seating.  Compared to the transports we'd fly on this is first class."  Joo Dee's voice caught slightly as she dropped down to the roadway, but it was so short as to almost be unnoticeable, and then she began to walk down the length of the bus.  Her gait was still stiff and awkward in her leg braces, but she had left the crutch with the rest of the baggage they had stored in the bus' cargo compartment and she managed to walk without it.  Her body was at least beginning to heal, with Korra's assistance, and to Asami's eye she looked just as steady as she had been when she used the additional support.  Unfortunately, despite this apparent improvement there were still great lengths to go, and when she reached the section where their bags were kept she had to stand to the side while Korra, Asami and Tapeesa picked up what supplies they had.

 

They were still not many supplies, but with the money Asami had won several nights ago they had purchased a few travel backpacks, some spare cheap clothing, and a few other odds and ends that could prove unexpectedly important when traveling on the road.  After their shopping and eating along the way, there had been enough left for the bus tickets which had taken them here ("Utah" the land was called) as they continued south into the United States of America.  Divvying up the packs (Even Joo Dee had a small bag) they waved goodbye to the brief acquaintances they had made on the day-long bus ride and shambled together to the small diner next to the bus station for their lunch and to plan their next immediate steps.

 

* * *

 

"I think Korra was right, we do need to get some transportation."  Tapeesa was picking (reluctantly) at her food, unsure if she truly wanted to finish whatever it was (The menu had said "Gyro", but what she got....) when she seemed to decide to continue from the conversation they had had as they were leaving the bus.  "Not a motorcycle, obviously, but _something_.  If we go back to hitchhiking we'll never get anywhere, and we can't afford to bus ourselves across the country, either.  Not if we want to keep eating like kings, as we do."  And she gestured around them at the greasy spoon diner they sat within.

 

Joo Dee was halfway into a large bite of her hamburger, but she managed to force her words out around it.  "''Saw, if we can't afford bus tickets, how are we going to afford a car?"

 

"I'm not saying we should buy a Ferrari or anything, but even a jalopy will help us get around, especially with Lady MacGyver.  We buy something that's falling apart for a few dollars, she fixes it up, and we cruise on down to Florida and sleep on the beach."

 

"I must say, I approve of this plan," Korra said.

 

"Of course _you_  do, all it involves is you 'cruising'.   _I'm_  the one who needs to do the fixing."  But the smile belied any sting in Asami's words.  "However, will not even a used vehicle be outside of our available price range?  We have only just over $100.00 left to us, I cannot imagine any vehicle we could purchase for that amount would be within range even of my skills to repair, it would need to be rebuilt completely."

 

"Maybe, but maybe not, too.  We passed a salvage yard on the outskirts of town just as the bus pulled in, they've probably got old wrecks that still run which they're willing to sell for parts.  And even if they're not, we can haggle.  And if we can't haggle we can...uh...well, I'm sure there's something else on the tail end there.  Come on, after everything else are we really going to let a price tag stop us?"  Her enthusiasm, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, was infectious.

 

"Okay, we will take a look after lunch.  Maybe there will be hidden surprise."

 

* * *

 

"I'm all for surprises, but this one might just be hidden a little  _too_ well."  They had been wandering through the salvage yard Tapeesa had seen for close to two hours now, and they had passed dozens of broken down wrecks for sale, but all of them for well above the money they had to spend.  The cheapest vehicles which even technically could be operated, which Asami would have been hesitant to buy at any price given their state, were still several hundred dollars above their available funds, and options within their price range were primarily just piles of interconnected parts.  Now Joo Dee was growing exhausted, and perhaps a little irritable (She still was not very comfortable walking for extended periods of time), and she was lagging further and further behind Asami and Tapeesa as they did the deep searching.  "Maybe we should skip this one."

 

"Do not worry, if it is here, they will find it."  Korra had lagged behind with Joo Dee, partly out of 'just in case' concern, and also to keep her company as Asami and Tapeesa delved into the search.  "Asami has never let a new discovery fall through her fingers before, and Tapeesa has energy and to spare right now.....why  _does_ Tapeesa have so much energy right now?"

 

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it's thanks to Asami.  With her money we've been able to eat and sleep almost like normal for the past few days, it's almost like this is the adventure 'Saw originally wanted to have when we first ran into you two, instead of being a fugitive's flight.  Now if we get a car as well then it all turns into a road trip, and we're able to pretend we're just out having fun."  Her voice softened a tiny bit, stepping back from the edge of irritation that it had almost reached.  "It wouldn't be so bad, to let her take a step away and sink a little bit into that kind of fantasy.  She never did ask for any of this--okay, actually she  _did_ ask for this, but she had not idea what she was asking for--maybe she can still have the fun excitement she originally wanted."

 

"None of us asked for this.  Not like we are actually getting.  It would not be a bad thing for any of us to have that kind of escape as well."

 

"True enough, maybe we could all--eh?"  Joo Dee cut herself off as she stopped short of walking into Asami, who she just now noticed had stopped walking and had frozen in place.  "What's up?"

 

Asami did not respond right away, staring intently at a car wedged into the end of the row they were walking down, and Joo Dee turned to look over what had grabbed her attention.  It was an old car, she guessed probably from the 1960s or 1970s, with a long, lean body.  It was a four-seat, two-door convertible, and the angles of its frame and front 'overbite' looked like it was moving fast even while sitting their stationary...or it would have if it had not been in such poor shape.  Its paint, which might have once been red, was so faded and marked and peeled that it was hard to truly judge its color.  The body was dented and scuffed throughout, one of the wipers and mirrors was completely missing, from where she was standing Joo Dee could see that the interior was in no better shape, and it had the air of  _deserving t_ o be in a junkyard.  Why was Asami staring at it? _  
_

 

"Asami?"  She heard Korra ask.

 

"This is the car we are going to buy." Asami said, and reached out to run her hand along its frame in a caress that seemed almost tender.

 

Painted on its windshield, in large white letters, were the numbers "$699".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be honest, on re-read my last chapter....not my best, especially not as the singular return after such a long gap. Nothing glaringly _wrong_ with it or anything, just...bleh. I'm sorry, and hopefully this one is a return to form. Not much _happening_ , but at last it's not-happening in a better fashion.


	111. Chapter 111

"Look, what do you want me to say?  If the sticker says seven hundred, then it's seven hundred."  The man behind the counter at the salvage yard office ('Sal' his name tag read) barely looked up from the thick book he had been reading, and sounded bored even to be speaking.

 

"For  _that_ old junk?  You cannot be serious.  I am willing to take it because you said it runs and we need a car, but it is still falling apart."  Asami faced him squarely from across the counter, and managed to put just the right touch of disdain into her voice that even Korra would have thought she was barely condescending to consider such a vehicle.

 

"I don't care if it's falling apart, like you just said  _it runs_.  Around here that's pretty much the deciding factor.  You want something fancy, go rent a car, but it'll cost you even more than seven hundred.  If there's nothing else?"  Sal made a deliberate motion of looking back down at the book he was holding, as if he had turned off the conversation, but even Korra could tell that he was just making a show.  At a place like this  _everything_ was negotiable, and Asami had more than enough experience with this kind of business.

 

"It runs, but it certainly is not safe or legal to operate.  Missing mirrors?  No windshield wipers?  Whoever does buy it will need have them repaired before they can even drive off of your property.  With parts and labor you are arriving at totals of more than one thousand dollars, more than you can possibly think it is worth for something so decrepit.  I will offer you $300.00 for the vehicle and will handle such repairs myself."

 

Sal snorted in laughter, which Korra guessed was his first natural reaction she had seen.  "Three hundred?  Are you cranking me or something?  Even if I was willing to knock something off the sticker it wouldn't be $400.00.  I'll tell you what, though, since you will need some repairs, I'll offer you this: You pay the sticker for the car, and I'll give you the parts you need at cost."

 

The very edge of Asami's lips curved upward the tiniest amount, small enough that it was more of just an _impression_ of smiling than an actual grin.  Korra doubted even Tapeesa or Joo Dee would notice it, let alone Sal, but she recognized it and had to fight to keep her own grin hidden.  "Cost?  You still want one thousand dollars for everything?" She feigned affronted outrage so well.  "Thank you, have a nice day." Asami turned as if she was going to walk right out of the office, but had not even managed to make her first step before Sal called out again.

 

"Hey, wait!  Hold it, we don't need to leave it there, I'm sure we can both be happy here.  Call it $650.00 for the car, plus parts."

 

Before she turned back around to face Sal, Asami gave Korra half a wink, just enough to force Korra to have to suppress her own grin once again.  "Fifty dollars?  That is not much of an incentive."  But she did turn around and step back to the counter.

 

* * *

  

"I don't....you just.... _how_?"  Tapeesa was almost comically flabbergasted as they walked out of the office with a few sheets of paperwork and an agreement to purchase their car, with all repair parts required to make it street legal, for a total price of $500.00.  That was less than half of what it would have originally cost for everything, and Tapeesa was staring at Asami with almost as much wonder as she had displayed when she thought they were _tuurngait._ Of course, another way of looking at that $500.00 was that it was still almost $400.00 more than they actually had on them, but she refused to let herself be distracted by details.

 

"Nothing convinces somebody you are willing to walk away as much as actually walking away.  That car has probably been in this lot for years, if not decades, taking up space, and maybe even with ongoing costs if they had checked the engine every year or so to make sure it actually runs.  We are likely the first people to have asked about it for a long time.  They would have been desperate to get rid of it for any kind of profit, and maybe even willing to settle for a slight loss just to get it off their hands."  Asami spoke with steady confidence as they walked.  "Show them that you are ready to do the taking, and also ready to do the walking, and they are going to do all that they can to  _give_ it to you.  My father showed me how to handle this when I was just a kid."

 

"Well you certainly handled  _him_.  A grand for that piece of junk?  Pah!" And she tossed her head with an appropriately condescending sniff.

 

"Sorry to burst in, " Joo Dee said in a show of pragmatism, "but just how  _are_ we going to get the rest of the money?  We don't need just another $400.00, but more for gas, tolls, and everything else.  Driving's not free, not to mention how we're going to keep feeding ourselves, and I don't remember seeing any kind of boxing promotion being advertised on the street around here."

 

"We have the next day to get the money while they collect the required repair parts, we will think of something," Korra said.  She bore a half-distracted expression, as if she was running through potential options right then as they walked down the road back towards the town.  "There will likely be some manner of work available, and if not we will think of something else.  We always have."

 

* * *

 

" _Nothing_?"  Korra asked.

 

"Nothing that bears thinking upon.  A few offers for...unsavory work....and that was it.  Apparently this region has been suffering a workplace depression recently, a lot of the people who live here have been out of work and willing to take anything available.  All that is currently unoccupied is low-paying menial work that would take days or weeks to get us the money we need."  Asami did not seem so much disappointed as she did confused.  "There is talk of work a few towns over, and promises of more here in the coming months, but that is of little use to us today."

 

"Maybe we could get an extension then?" Joo Dee inquired.

 

"No, not after the negotiating we did. They agreed to our price because of the expectation of immediate payment, they will not be inclined to do us favors over the promise of later funds."

 

"Maybe we could...uh...go for a little  _aggressive negotiation_?" Tapeesa asked.  "Or some covert, nighttime shopping?"  She made an exaggerated winking motion as she spoke.  Asami and Korra both starred at her in incomprehension, and after a few seconds her grin faltered.  "Uh...we could steal the car?"

 

"No." Asami and Korra both spoke at the same time, instantly as if by reflex, and Joo Dee was only a few parts of a second behind them.

 

"Oooooookay, crossing off that plan.  What then?"

 

"I do not know, but we  **will** think of something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, so it turns out you can't just walk into a town with no identification, references or verifiable/marketable skill and make $500.00 in a single day. Who woulda thunk it?


	112. Chapter 112

"You know, Tapeesa's probably complaining to Joo Dee _right now_ about how we stole this car without her." Korra crouched low next to the chain-link fence which ran around the perimeter of the salvage yard, glancing back and forth down the empty and darkened street for the lights of an approaching car.

 

"We _told_ her we weren't going to steal it...." Beside her, Asami stood straight next to the fence and eyed its barbed-wired top. "Here should be good, we're out of the angle from both security cameras."

 

"I know what we told her, but did you see the way she was winking over and over again?" As she spoke, Korra stepped up to the fence itself. She eyed the interwoven links and then reached out with both arms, drawing her hands apart and splitting an opening wide enough for them both to walk through. "She expects us drive up in that car with the trunk filled with whatever else we could grab." After she stepped through she flicked her wrist and sent small metal caps, identical to the ones they had used while rescuing Joo Dee and Tapeesa weeks before, to cover the lenses of the two cameras which Asami had pointed out.

 

"Hopefully she'll be satisfied with what we _do_ bring back." Asami followed Korra through the opening in the fence and then started walking down one of the seemingly endless rows of old, dialpidated vehicles. "Let's get to going."

 

Bringing out a flashlight, they both began to inspect each of the cars lining the dirt pathway that lead deeper and deeper into the salvage yard. Some they glanced at only briefly, others they went over in detail before moving on to the next. Every few cars they would take the time to lift the hood and inspect the engine, or check the frame structure, but never seemed to find what they were looking for.

 

After close to two hours, when they had inspected dozens (Hundreds?) of cars but still with much of the salvage yard left to go, they began to work their way back towards the fence they had entered from. An hour after that, halfway back to the fence, Asami stopped at what looked like just another beaten up old wreck dragged off to the side. Propping open its hood and leaning down into the engine, she called out to Korra, "I think we found what we were looking for."

 

* * *

 

 

"G'afternoon laides," Sal called as they entered the salvage yard office, "welcome back."

 

"Good afternoon," Asami responded. "How is everything"?

 

"All set, everything's all taken care of." He waved towards one side of the counter where a few sheafs of paper were layed out, next to a few taped up cardboard boxes. "Just a little paperwork and she's all yours."

 

"Thank you." However, before Asami reached for the papers she opened the boxes and began rummaging through the parts stored therein.

 

"Hey, I said it's all taken care of," Sal huffed, now with an insulted tone, "you want to start pawing around let's see your money first."

 

Asami did not look up right away, continuing to inspect all of the provided repair parts to her satisfaction before she stood up. "Everything that we need seems to be here."

 

"Right, that's what I _said_." Sal was definitely putting forth the aggreived appearances now. "I don't--"

 

"Unfortunately," Asami burst into his sentence, "We do not have the money for the full price we agreed upon."

 

" _What_?"

 

"We cannot pay the $500.00 for this vehicle."

 

"You...you're joking, right? This is a prank? After everything you---you dug in for an **hour** yesterday, is this how you amuse yourself? Do you get your kicks wasting my time?" Sal had quickly jumped past 'aggrivated' to 'infuriated'. "Get the hell out!"

 

Asami waited for him to pause for a breath before she interjected again. "We do not have the available money, however we have information to exchange of much greater value."

 

"Info--- _information_? I said get the hell out!" Sal finally pulled himself to his feet behind the counter.  "I don't have time to waste hours of my day letting you prattle!"

 

"On your lot is a 1980 Aston-Martin Vantage SII. It is in poor condition and does not look distinguishable from other disreputable cars on your property, but its engine is operable and the frame is intact. Models of this car in good condition are valued above $100,000, and even one such as yours will still sell for several thousand more than the one we are requesting. With fuctional repairs and cosemtic touch-ups it will sell for _many_ thousand more dollars than the car we are requesting."

 

Sal had frozen in place as soon as she said '$100,000.'

 

"I will tell you where on your property you will find this vehicle, along with what minor repairs you would need to make to significantly increase its sale value. I will be more than happy to accompany you out to the vehicle so that you can assure yourself that I know whereof I speak, along with allowing you time to check the internet to corroborate the value I have said. I offer this information in lieu of the money we had agreed upon yesterday in fair exchange."

 

Sal had remained motionless as Asami finished, and stared at her.

 

"The choice is yours.  Do you take this information and make a substantial profit, more than you could ever hope to make on a car in such poor shape as the one we desire, or do you hold on to a paltry few hundred dollars and let a fortune rust away under your very nose?

 

* * *

 

 

"Almost ready?" With her head buried in the engine Asami could barely hear Korra's question, but she held up her hand in a 'One moment' gesture and made a few more minor adjustments. Then she reached up and slammed the hood down and grinned at Korra. "Ready," she said.

 

Gathering up her tools and sliding the rest of the parts into the trunk of the car, Asami slid into the driver's seat and reached for the ignition. She paused for a second, almost hesitant to try, then she turned the key with full force.

 

The engine came to life with a heavy roar and set the whole car to shaking with a deep _thrum_ , then settled into a constant, steady murmur that could be felt down to her very bones. Her grin widened and she nodded her head towards the passenger. "Get in!" she shouted.

 

A few minutes later, with its engine growling a warning ahead and its tires throwing gravel behind, the 1963 Thunderbird leapt out of the exit to Sal's salvage yard and took off down the street.  Korra and Asami's gleeful laughter accompanied it the whole way.


	113. Chapter 113

"I don't care **what** she says, that girl has _some_ kind of magical powers." Judith looked over her shoulder as Korra and Asami disappeared around the corner up the block, then turned back to stare at their car. It still looked like an old wreck, dented and dinged and of an indeterminate color that just seemed brownish, but during all of the down-time on their journey so far Asami had been making minor adjustments and repairs to _this_ part and _that_ part until it was running as smoothly and softly as any car she had ever been in. For the past day it had been like they had not pulled it out of a salvage yard at all. "It might not be bending, but it's something."

　

Tapeesa grinned and ran her hand along the frame, much as Asami had done when she first saw the car. "It's something, all right. I always dreamt of owning a car like this."

　

"When we were kids you always dreamt of owning the Ecto-1," Judith responded.

　

"Hey, you can want more than one car, and what's wrong with the Ecto-1, anyway? You drive down the street in a car like that and people give you _respect_." Tapeesa took a breath, as if she was about to start singing the theme song, but then seemed to think better of it. "But do you remember that kid down the street from me? Jimm---no, Johnny."

　

"Was he the one got into all of those fights when we were fifteen?"

　

"What? No, that was Jeffrey...or was it Jared?" Tapeesa briefly looked into her memory as she tried to piece together the similarly-named people they had known in their childhood, then shook her head. "It doesn't matter, _Johnny_ 's dad had those two really nice cars that belonged to _his_ dad or something, and he'd give kids rides with the top down in the summer. Ever since then I've been planning to get my own just like them."

　

"Do you even know what kinds of cars they were?"

　

"Uh....I'm pretty sure one of them was silver?" Tapeesa gave Judith a gimlet glare as her statement elicted a semi-smothered bark of laughter. "The _point is_ , they were both something classic, just like this." She reached out and touched the frame again, and her voice became just a little bit softer. "Just like I wanted when we were kids."

　

Judith reflected back on the conversation she had had with Korra back when they were looking for a car as they stumbled through the salvage yard. She had said then how much more it might mean to Tapeesa than just as a means of transportation, it could be a way to make everything that had happened seem just a little bit normal. Transforming their trek across the United States from fugitive flight back to a fun adventure Now.... "I guess it's a good thing your younger self had good taste."

　

Grinning, Judith swung her left arm over Tapeesa's shoulder and began to walk her down the street and into what seemed to be the tourist section of the town they had stopped in.

　

* * *

　

"You know, they're probably already back at the car." Tapeesa's tone was carefully neutral as she spoke.

　

"I know," Judith responded, her tone just as even.

　

"They've probably been back for a while now."

　

"I know."

　

"They're probably starting to get worried at how long we've been."

　

"I _know_."

　

Judith and Tapeesa had not seen Korra and Asami since the two pairs had separated earlier in the day. When Korra had seen the signs for what looked like some sort of local music fesitval--jazz specifically--she and Asami had both been determined to go, but the other two had been far less enthusiastic. Tapeesa actually did enjoy jazz (It was a style that could be extremely relaxing without being boring), but the thought of spending hours listening to a dozen different local amateurs play bad renditions of the same five songs over and over again did not appeal to either her or Judith. The thought of spending the time exploring the town instead, making like normal tourists as they wandered the streets and poked their heads into _this_ store and _that_ shop, had been much more appealing. Plus, though none of them wanted to say it, the thought of spending some time apart had its own appeal. After all the time that they had been trapped together (Literally and figuratively), an afternoon apart sounded quite refreshing.

　

Their inability to find their way back to the car at the end of the day had not been part of the plan.

　

"So, how long _does_ it take before you are 'officially' lost?"

　

Judith stopped her determined march forward, or rather the steady walk which she could manage now, and turned to glare at Tapeesa. Tapeesa, for her part, returned the gaze with such determinedly-innocent curiosity that you might think she was legitimately asking for a timeframe because she was ernestly trying to understand navigation. Judith kept up the glare for almost five seconds before she crumbled under the power Tapeesa's doe-eyes and mumbled something under her breath, then began walking again.

　

They were somewhere in New Mexico now, and though the year had now passed incontrovertibly into "cold" time they had apparently made it far enough south to just be stuck with cool briskness. Unfortunately, as it edged from twilight into true night even the briskness was becoming uncomfortable and they pulled their coats (Purchased for remarakably low prices at a Goodwill store several days ago) tightly about themselves.

　

"I think we're almost back," Judith finally said, waving generally at a section of shops across the street. "We passed by those stores earlier today coming from _that_ direction," she nodded down one intersection, "so the car should be just a few blocks up this road." She said it with calm certainty, as if she had always known where the car would be, but there was a tinge of relief in there as well. The thought that she had gotten lost inside one single small town was more embarassment than she wanted to deal with.

　

"Ah, good, my legs are about ready to fall off, it feels like we've circled this town twelve times today." Tapeesa glanced at Judith out of the corner eye as she spoke to see how she reacted to the remark. Judith had made amazing improvements in her recovery recently with Korra's healing help, and had recovered to a level where she was able to walk almost solely with her leg braces alone, but she had begun struggling more than an hour ago as their inability to find their way back first became apparent. Her crutch, which she had carried 'just in case', became necessary again, and Tapeesa feared that her backslide from exhaustion might hit her particularly hard after her apparent improvements.

　

Judith, however, seemed not to react to the remark at all and just nodded in agreement with the sentiment. "Me, too, I'm going to lie down and not move for a week. The next time I say it will be a good idea to tour a town, just roll me around on the ground right then so we can get it over with."

　

"Mind if I join you for that?" Tapeesa laughed, and laughed again when Judith leaned over (slightly) to nudge her side and grinned herself.

　

Together they turned down the road that Judith said the car was on and began walking towards their respite when behind them came a shout. "Hey ladies, mind sharing the joke?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we're back after _another_ respite. Sadly, at this time I cannot promise a return to my earlier frequency of daily (Or even multi-daily) updates, but now that we're edging closer to the end of summer I **can** reliably say I'll at least be getting something out weekly or so. I hope, anyway.
> 
> Regarding this chapter, I'm not quite sure I got Tapeesa & Judith's banter right at the start of the second section, it reads to me like 'Saw's being a real ass with her commenting on them being lost instead of coming across like friendly ribbing between intimates. That's a problem with tone in writing. So, if you read this and you thought "What the hell JBK, why did you make 'Saw such a jerk our of the blue for that one section?", don't worry, it's not just you.


	114. Chapter 114

"Don't ignore me like that, baby. I'm just trying to start up a conversation, have a few laughs. Come on, give us a smile." Judith had determinedly not turned around at the first call, clamping onto Tapeesa's arm and continuing down the road towards the car. There was nothing to gain by engaging whoever was calling after them, better to just leave him behind, and she pulled Tapeesa along with her. "Oh, it's like that, huh? I'm not even worthy of a  _smile_?" Despite the steps they had taken the voice was no fainter, and Judith felt her stomach tighten as she realized the catcaller was following them. "I'm a funny guy, I'll make you laugh all  _night_." There was a chorus of snickers that served as punctuation, like a bunch of kids laughing at a dirty joke, and Judith slowed to a stop and turned around to confront whoever it was that was following them.

 

They  _were_  a bunch of kids.

 

Not 'kids' like she had called Korra and Asami when she first met them, but  **kids**. Several of them were smothered in acne, a bunch had t-shirts with cartoon characters on them, and one even wore light-up sneakers that flashed with each step. The oldest could not have been more than fifteen, if that old, and they were giggling like (As was so apt) a bunch of schoolkids.

 

"Ah, so glad I caught your attention, I though maybe you hadn't heard me." The boy who had started the catcalling stood off-center in the pack and wore what he clearly thought was a self-assured smirk that he had gotten them to turn around. On his cherubic face it almost looked cute. "So come on, let us in on the joke. What was so funny before?"

 

Forcing herself to hold in a heavy sigh (Was this really happening?  _Really_?), Judith was about to say something when Tapeesa burst forward with scorn in her voice. "What do you think you're doing? Calling out to women on the roadside?  _Harassing_  people walking by? You don't know us, you don't know anything about us, what are you thinking? How old are you? Where are your parents?" Judith had to fight to stifle a laugh at that last one, but Tapeesa kept rolling without even a pause to give any of the kids time to answer. "Do you know what you look like? How you sound?"

 

Taken aback by the sudden steamrolling, the kids look flustered and tried to rally behind the one who had done all the talking so far. "Hey, listen, we---" Tapeesa did not even let him finish the sentence.

 

"No,  _you_  listen! Is this how you were raised to talk to women, catcalling passing strangers twice your age?" She pointed at one of the kids with cartoon characters on his shirt, what looked to Judith like a pillow with arms and legs standing with a badger-creature of some sort. "What would Finn say if he saw this, huh?" That one had the grace to look sheepish as he tugged on his shirt, but the one who had been talking so far twisted his face into a petulant impression of anger. Whatever he had thought this would turn into, he clearly had not expected such a reaction. "Go home," Tapeesa shouted, "and apologize to whoever raised you." She said it imperiously, like a parent talking to a child, and most of them turned around almost instantly as if reacting to the tone based on pure instinct.

 

Except for the one who started it all. He stared at them for a few seconds longer, with that same look of immature rage as if he had been denied his second scoop of ice cream, before he turned around as well and scampered after the retreating gaggle, muttering beneath his breath.  Judith and Tapeesa watched them go for a few seconds, partly to make sure they  **did**  go, then turned back around towards the direction they had been walking in the first place.

 

"Kids," Tapeesa murmured quietly, almost too quietly for Judith to hear, and she leaned into her shoulder as they walked down the street.

 

* * *

  

"I'm starting to get worried," Korra said as she ambled around their parked car.  She was moving too slowly to be called 'pacing', but too determinedly to be called anything else.  "It's been too long, it's not like they could get lost in a town this size."

 

"Don't worry," Asami called out.  She lay back atop the vehicle's hood, gazing up at the sky and had been humming quietly to herself one of the songs they had heard earlier in the day.  "This is the first chance they've had to do something normal in weeks, they probably just got stuck somewhere in town and lost track of time.  I'm sure they're on their way back right now."

 

"Unless they were waylaid by a pack of bandits!" Korra practically shouted.  "Or maybe this town is secretly the organizational headquarters of a revolutionary group that doesn't take kindly to being discovered!"

 

Asami  _tried_  to say "What?", but it came out as an unintelligible noise as her laughter smothered the question.  After a moment she tried again, "What are you talking about?"

 

"It's been a long time since we were last attacked or caught in some natural disaster," Korra explained,"And wherever we go there's  _something_  going on.  It's time for the next one, and maybe it went after them first this time!"  She was still circling the car as she spoke, and Asami reached out to grab her as she came around again.

 

"Don't  _worry_ ," Asami said as she had before, and pulled Korra down so she was lying beside her, "And stop pacing!  We're not due for some new disaster, we've had more than enough to fill any quota we've got for years to come.  Right now we're just having a danger-free drive across this nation and today has only been a nice, fun respite for all of us from the constant traveling.  If you can't handle that," and suddenly Asami's tone grew mischievous, "I'll have to think up some way to distract you."

 

"Oh?  What do you--" Korra's tone had begun to change to match Asami's, when she suddenly stopped as she heard what sounded like Tapeeaa shouting a few blocks down.  "Did you hear that?"

 

Before Korra had even finished the question Asami had grabbed Korra's glider staff, which was leaning against the side of the car, and passed it to her across the car.  "Go," she said, and in moments Korra was leaping into the air as Asami pulled on her glove and began running down the street towards where the noise had come from.

 

* * *

 

" _Finally_ ," Judith said as she caught sight of the car in the distance, and a figure that looked like it might be Asami running up to meet them. "I can't wait for--- _what the hell?!?!_ "  She stumbled to the side, and might have fallen if Tapeesa had not grabbed her arm to steady her, as Korra came barreling out of the sky like a missile.  Korra dropped to the ground beside them with her staff held up in a fighting guard, looking around anxiously.

 

"What is it?"  Korra asked, "What is going on?"

 

"I don---what?"  Judith looked around in confusion.  "Is something wrong?" Tapeesa asked.

 

"We heard you shouting," Korra said as she continued to warily look around them, "What is wrong?"

 

"No, we're not--" Tapeesa tried to explain, but then Asami reached them and dropped into her own guard next to Korra. "What is it?" Asami echoed Korra exactly, "What is going on?"

 

" _Nothing_  is going on," Tapeesa tried to burst in.  "What has you two so worked up?"

 

"What were you shooting about?" Asami asked as she continued to eye the streets around them.

 

"Shouting?  What shou----a little bit ago?  That was...it was nothing.  Just sending home some little kids."  At Tapeesa's explanation Korra and Asami both slowly drew their gaze back to the two women standing next to them.

 

"We were worried at how late it has gotten," Asami said, "and we heard shouting and we thought..." she wound down and looked uncharacteristically sheepish.  "We were worried."

 

"Well, thank you for worrying, but we're fine," Judith said, "And right now we're both very eager to be able to sit down and rest, it's been a long day of walking.  So, let's get back before we both collapse here and now," and she lead the way back to their waiting car.  Tapeesa kept pace with her, and after a few last glances around the street for looming dangers Korra and Asami followed.


	115. Chapter 115

"Okay, now put just a _little_ bit of pressure on, not too much....yes, that's right, just like that." Asami's voice was quiet, almost a purr, as she spoke into Korra's ear. "No, don't look at me, keep your eyes straight ahead. Don't look down, you'll be able to feel everything you need. Perfect, keep it just like that, you're doing great, now push a little bit harder.....a little bit more....almost there..." Her breathing began to come faster as she spoke, energy heating her words, and Asami leaned back. "You're doing fantastic."

 

"Well it's a whole lot easier when I don't need to worry about spirit vines appearing in the road," Korra said tightly, but there was an undercurrent of excitement in her voice as she gripped their car's steering wheel and kept it straight and steady under Asami's tutelage. The engine was growling under the hood, and with her even acceleration they were approaching fifty miles per hour on the wide open highway that seemed to stretch out endlessly before them. Unlike her previous attempts to learn to drive it had gone relatively smoothly so far; with no other cars in sight and flat, steady roadway it was easy for her to get into a rhythm. She had begun to feel the thrill that Asami always spoke about at the power and ability to harness a machine like this, and if there were still a few jerky motions and sudden stops....well, she was getting better. "Not to mention no clutch."

 

"Hey, don't blame the manual transmission just because you couldn't handle my old car," Asami grinned, then glanced away from Korra to look ahead of them. The highway still looked empty for miles, they had passed a small town almost an hour back and they were still far away from the next one, giving them plenty of time for Korra to practice without the hazards of other people to get in the way. "We've got a nice easy curve up ahead, but I want you to slow down before we get there so we can practice accelerating through the curve. I know you're going to want to slow down **in** the turn, but fight that instinct." Korra began to smoothly lower their speed as Asami spoke and approached the turn at what was almost a crawl compared to normal highway speeds. "You don't need to come down quite this far, but this is fine for now, just go for a steady increase as we turn...that's it...perfect. Bring it back up." Past the edge of the turn the engine growl shifted into almost a roar, and Asami felt herself pulled back into her seat as Korra pressed a fast acceleration for the first time. "You're a natural. Another week and I'll have you jumping around at the controls of an airship."

 

"Another week and I might go ahead and pull the steering wheel out of the dashboard," Korra responded, and true to her words her hold on the wheel was almost a white-knuckled death grip. "It doesn't feel natural to be moving this fast."

 

"We go this fast all the time when I drive. You fly this fast yourself sometimes!"

 

"Yeah, but it's different when _you_ drive. When you're behind the wheel it's like...it's like....it's like when I'm flying. Just energy and excitement and the feeling that in ten seconds we could cross the whole world." If her eyes had not been not locked on the street in front of them her look might have gone as wistful as her tone. "Right now I'm just worried this whole contraption is going to fall apart around us."

 

"If I can promise you anything, it's that **this** contraption is now solid as rock." Asami's tone was almost smug as she knocked on the sideboard. " _That_ you can believe."

 

Korra was about to say something that even she would have shaken her head at (Maybe "I believe in _you_ " or something else suitably dribbly), when she noticed a distant shape that might have been a vehicle on the side of the road. In the time it took her to recognize what she was seeing their approach had caused the vague image to grow into a large car pulled over onto the shoulder, its lights flashing, with close to a half-dozen people apparently struggling to make some kind of repair to it. They clustered around the car in obvious distress, and without even consciously realizing it Korra began to slow down and edge over to the side of the road herself.

 

Asami stuck her head out of the window and called out, "Hello, are you having trouble?" She fought down a slight shiver as she did; even this far south it was still cold in this time of year, and Tapeesa and Joo Dee had said they were now getting into the real cold season. Eyeing the people that grouped around their car, she realized that the ones she could see were all children, with (Presumably) the one who had driven the vehicle obscured beneath the hood up at the front of the car.

　

"Dad!" One of them shouted, and a muffled _thump_ came from underneath the hood, followed by what Asami was sure was a curse of some kind. " _What?_ " was the shouted reply, with the head still obscured "I'm a little busy here Petey!"

　

"There's another car here!" Petey shouted back, and a few seconds later a torso emrged from beneath the car's hood and stood up. "Oh, sorry," he said, and walked over to where Korra and Asami had now gotten out of their car. "I didn't hear you pull up, but I sure am glad to see somebody, we've been stuck here for half an hour and haven't seen a single car come by."

　

"What is the problem?" Asami asked, eyeing the vehicle itself. It was one of the models that was called a 'minivan' and could have fit the entire horde with ease.

　

"I'm not sure, the engine began overheating and before I knew it we were steaming like a clam. Can I borrow your phone? I've got no service out here and haven't been able to reach AAA."

　

Asami almost instinctively agreed to provide their cellular phone before she caught herself; they had purchased what Joo Dee called a 'burner' phone a few days ago to use in emergencies, which probably could not be traced back to them, but were they _sure_? They had already seen near-miraculous feats from their pursuers, who knew what else they might be capable of? They had avoided any and all electronic communication since coming to this nation, was this an emergency enough to take that risk?

　

Seeing the four kids stuck beside the road, some already rubbing their arms to keep themselves warm in the chilly air, she knew it was...but not before trying some non-exposing options first.

　

"Why do I not take a look before we call for assistance?" Asami offered. "I am a mechanic and might be able to help."

　

"Seriously? That would be _fantastic_ , thank you so much." Unlike most of people of this world when she said she was a mechanic, this man did not look her up-and-down with a dismissive or skeptical expression, he just stepped to the side and waved her towards the engine. "Once we get past changing the oil I'm wandering without a map, I've been completely lost in there. Anything you can do would be fantastic."

 

* * *

  

Shifting awkwardly on her feet, not quite sure what to do with herself as Asami poked at _this_ and  _that_ in the minivan's engine, Korra stared down at the little girl who seemed to be trying to hide behind the doll she held up in front of her face.  "So...uh...how old are you?"  Her brother was standing beside their father, watching over Asami's shoulder and nodding his head in an attempt to appear understanding of whatever she was doing, and the two older girls were playing what seemed to be some kind of complicated game with Tapeesa involving slapping each other's hands in an ever-evolving pattern that became too fast even for Korra's eyes to track as Joo Dee watched in bemusement.  That left Korra alone with this last child, who even in just the past minute was so completely quiet and still as to be as unlike the airbending kids as any child she had ever known.

 

"I'm four," came the muffled reply, her eyes peeking out over just the very top of the doll's fluffy hair.

 

"Four?  That is a very good age."  She was floundering for something to say.  "How long have you been four?"  It took all of her self-control not to smack herself in the forehead after that question, but the girl giggled softly before saying "Almost a year.  I'm almost five," and she held up her hand with all of her fingers splayed out to show how old she almost was.  Feeling a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, Korra crouched down until she was almost at eye-level (Or at least doll-level).  "Who is your little friend?"

 

"This is Princess Powerful, she's a superhero."  If possible she clutched the doll even tighter, but her eyes seemed to shine as she said it.

 

The term 'superhero' was actually one of the most confusing terms Korra had encountered since arriving in this new world, in their exposure to the culture of this place it seemed to refer to everything from idealistic fantasy fiction to stories of brutal murderers, but it was very clear what it meant to this little girl in this instance. "She looks very powerful," Korra said, "and I'm sure she keeps you very safe."  She might have said something else, but just then there came a victory cheer and she turned to see Asami slamming down the hood of the car.

 

"That should do it," Asami shouted, "let's give it a try."

 

The father (Korra realized she never had caught his name) slid into the driver's seat and gently turned the ignition, and he was rewarded with the instant turnover of the engine.  Korra had never doubted, when Asami said she had fixed something then she had  **fixed** it, but he gave a surprised cheer of his own, then began calling his kids back together.

 

"Thank you so much," he said, "I don't know how long we would have been stuck out here without you."  He reached for his wallet and began to pull out several bills.

 

"No, that is not necessary," Asami said, "I am happy we could help."

 

"Please, allow me.  It would have cost me a couple hundred bucks for a tow truck to come out here, and that's if I could have even reached anybody at all."  He held out the money, "You just saved me a fortune."

 

Asami was going to refuse again, she enjoyed just the challenge of fixing an engine with no supplies out in the middle of nowhere, but considering the state of their own funds.... "I am glad I could help," she said, and pocketed the money.  "Why don't we follow you for a few miles to make sure everything runs okay and you do not get stuck again?"

 

"You've done enough, you don't need to detour like that."

 

"It is no trouble, " she said, "My pride would not take it if my repairs let you get stuck somewhere else."

 

"Well, since I'd be doing you a favor..." He grinned, then turned back to the little girl who was still almost completely obscured behind her doll.  "Come on Molly, we've got to get going.  Say goodbye to the nice woman before we leave."

 

"Goodbye," she said, then waved hesitantly with the one arm she could free from her doll before she turned around and scampered towards the waiting minivan.

 

"Have a good trip Molly, and you, too, Princess Powerful," Korra called out, then watched as the whole herd fit themselves inside and pulled away from the shoulder.  She, Asami, Joo Dee and Tapeesa quickly folded themselves back into their own car, with Asami behind the wheel again, and pulled out after them to make sure the  _ad hoc_ repairs held up.  Then, a few miles down the road, they peeled off and continued their own journey.

 

They were heading east.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this, there are times where people can bump into other people and have _absolutely nothing happen_? No fighting or insults or drama or disaster, just a helpful-but-brief touch-and-go before you never see each other again? Who woulda thunk it? This hasn't happened since they ran into those helpful bikers up near Squamish.


	116. Chapter 116

"Explain this to me again," Korra said as they walked back to their car, "I am still not understanding the history."

 

"It's not exactly my area of expertise," Joo Dee said, "Plus, United States history wasn't the main focus in Primary, especially not that far back. But what happened was that there was a time when France controlled large swathes of what is now Canada and also the States. That includes Quebec and Louisiana. They lost control of most of their territory more than a century ago, but the people who lived there and spoke French couldn't just forget it because they were ruled by English-speakers now, so it survived on to now. At least, a little of it did, if you really want to call this 'French'."

 

"But this is different than the language we learned in Quebec," Asami put in as she eyed the people ambling around them on the street, "different words and meanings. Even words that are the same sound different."

 

"Yeah, languages change over time, especially when they don't have any contact....don't yours?" Tapeesa glanced back and forth between Korra and Asami. "You said that your whole world speaks one language, but it's not the same language you spoke a thousand years ago, is it?"

 

"No, there are changes, but not like _this_. We have new words for new concepts--there were no movers a hundred years ago--and there is always slang for each generation, but so many of the words that have changed here did not _need_ to change. Concepts that have not changed for a hundred years still have two different names between here and Quebec." Asami looked almost insulted as she spoke, as if the changing language was a personal affront to her sense of how the world should work.

 

"Don't ask me to explain it, I can barely under--- _ooof_!" As they rounded a corner, just up the street from where they had parked their car as they explored what Tapeesa had called 'True Blood City' (Joo Dee had vociferously denied that it was any such thing), Tapeesa collided full-on with a pair of men that had been talking in the middle of the sidewalk. As they grunted and started in surprise, one of them dropped the bag that they had been in the process of exchanging. "I'm so sorry," Tapeesa began, "I didn't even see you...." but she wound down as one of the men abruptly turned on his heel and began to flee down the road as fast as he could run.

 

Korra looked at the running man's retreating back for an instant in confusion before she realized that the other one who had been standing there, the one who had dropped the bag, was lunging at Tapeesa with his arms outstretched. " _Vous pute stupide_!" He shouted as he reached towards her throat, only to descend into a sudden curse as Korra's foot intercepted his legs and he stumbled to the ground. She followed him down, grasping one of his wildly swinging arms and pulling it behind his back to hold him immobile.

 

" _Quel est ton probleme_?" She shouted at him, then turned to look back at Joo Dee and Tapeesa. "What is going on?"

 

Neither of them answered her immediately, both staring down at the knapsack the man had dropped. It had apparently already been unzipped, as it had spilled open after hitting the ground, and what came out...Korra could not identify the plastic bags filled with powder and glassy crystals, but she and Asami had been in this land long enough for her to recognize the many bills wrapped together and now tumbling out onto the sidewalk. She was still getting used to the exact values of the different denominations of money, but at first glance it was easy to recognize the small pile as 'a lot'. "Asami?" She asked.

 

"I think we should go." Asami said.

 

"I've got this guy, I don't think--" Korra began, but Asami cut her off quickly. " _Korra_ , we need to _go_." Looking up, Korra saw that close to a dozen of the people that had be milling about on the street were staring at them intently. _Too_ intently to just be fascinated by the surprising encounter. Some had their hands surreptitiously placed in pockets or behind their backs, and their gaze was rock-steady beneath purposefully blank expressions. All the people who were not staring at them with fixated interest were determinedly looking anywhere else, eyes held on blank building walls or empty sections of roadway until they found a doorway to duck into or an alleyway to walk down. "Okay," she said, hauling the man she still held bound up with her as she stepped away, "let's get out of here."

 

Under the still-staring eyes of everybody else in the area, and pulling along the still-cursing man, they began to walk towards their car, which sat next to the sidewalk just a few dozen feet away from them. They walked as a single group, with measured steady steps, and Korra and Asami each turned slightly to the side to overlook all their surroundings and the watchful eyes. Most of the people that had been looking away had by now left the scene, leaving only the people with hard eyes and hidden hands to stare after them. "Once we reach the car, you two get in as quickly as you can," Asami said to Joo Dee and Tapeesa, "Korra will get in last after she releases this person and then we will just drive away." Louder, she shouted out, "We are going to get into our car and drive away, we are not involved and do not wish to be involved."

 

They were almost to their car when the man Korra was pulling broke out of her grasp in one of the simplest and most effective ways of escaping a hold like this: He let his legs go completely limp and dropped to the ground. Korra's light grip on his arms, intended only to guide his movement and apply pressure if needed, was not prepared for that kind of motion and she found herself stumbling at the sudden change as he dropped away. He was already rolling away on the ground, and as he rolled he was shouting something to the people watching around. Whatever he was shouting, whether it was English or French or one of the other languages of the region, Korra could not understand it, but the hate contained therein needed no translation. All around them, the hands were being brought out of pockets and from behind backs, and each one held some glittering metal in it that was already pointing towards them.

 

* * *

 

 

More than any other emotion, more than anger or fear or concern or excitement or the thousand other emotions bubbling to the surface of her mind, what Asami felt as she saw the guns and knives being pulled out of holsters and pockets and hidden pouches was _frustration_. They had been in this land for weeks now without doing anything that would clue the government of this nation or Canada into their location; no public bending spectacles by Korra, no technology demonstrations by Asami, and with Tapeesa and Joo Dee's guidance they had even avoided getting their images conspicuously put on the internet. They had gotten food and clothing and transportation all while remaining inconspicuous, but as the weaponry became visible she knew they would need to reveal at least _some_ of their abilities in order to survive. And all because they had literally _bumped into somebody on the street_. The sheer randomness of the situation was enough to redden her face.

 

"Korra, don't hold back!" She shouted, then turned and swept Tapeesa and Joo Dee to the ground in the street beside their parked car. She did not have time to be gentle, and she winced internally as she heard Joo Dee's hiss of pain as she fell the wrong way, but she had to get them in a better position before they were caught exposed by the sudden weaponry. "Stay down," she got out through clenched teeth, then she was up in a crouch and scampering around the car to see what was going on. Rounding the bumper, she almost collided with one of the unknown men in a crouch of his own rounding the car in the other direction, a knife clenched in his fist.

 

Before he realized he was face-to-face with one of the people he was supposed to be attacking, Asami reached out to slap aside the hand he had holding his knife, knocking it down into the rough asphalt and catching its blade against the surface. Leaning in, she rolled over his hand and pinned his arm to the ground, checking her shoulder into his side and knocking him down onto his back. Silently cursing herself that she and Korra had left nearly all of their equipment packed in the trunk of their car (They had not been expecting anything like this to happen), she brought her elbow up short and knocked him on the side of the head, slamming his temple against the hard roadway. Groaning after the blow, the knife fell from his limp fingers and he fell back raggedly. It would not disable him as effectively or for as long as her electric glove, but hopefully the blow would keep him disoriented enough for the time being.

 

Picking up his dropped knife, Asami continued in her original direction, rounding the hood of the car and peering out at the tableau of Korra and the rest of the...whoever these people were.

 

Whatever their story happened to be, they clearly did not have the training or reflexes of soldiers; a small pile of guns lay twisted at Korra's feet, she had apparently been able to use her metalbending to pull them all out of their hands before even a single shot had been fired. Even now, as one of them was lunging at Korra with knife held overhead, Korra swung her arms down from above in a curving motion and the attacker shrieked in startlement as the knife shot straight down, seemingly impaling itself into the sidewalk and pulling him into a tumble. Beyond them, a scattering of other assailants were in similar states, all laying insensate on the ground or with their limbs bound up by little bits of metal flotsam that had been lying around.

 

Seeing most of the people disabled and disarmed, Asami was about to rise up from her crouch when she noticed that the very first man they had bumped into, who had lunged at Tapeesa and started the entire affair, was creeping up towards Korra from behind, a gun held in his hand. She remembered how **fast** those weapons worked, and how even Korra had said that she did not think she would have been able to stop a bullet in flight. Given their positioning, if Asami tried to shout a warning there was a good chance that he could shoot before Korra even had a chance to turn around.

 

Gauging the distance and running through the numbers as rapidly in her head as she possibly could, Asami flipped the knife in her hand until she held it by the blade. Taking a single, steadying breath and willing her limbs to stillness, she brought back her arm and slung the knife forward directly.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh, quit your _bitching_ ," Judith muttered as the drug dealer continued to shriek at the top of his lungs, a high-pitched whining sound that had been running for close to thirty seconds now as he clutched at his wrist and the knife blade sticking out of it, "you started it." She was tenderly feeling her own shoulder, aching where she had landed on it after Asami tackled her.

 

"You okay?" Tapeesa asked, sitting beside her, hunched in on herself.

 

"Yeah, just gonna bruise." She could already tell where the swell was going to rise, gently tracing the surface of her skin. "I'm more worried about you, are you holding up?"

 

"I don't.....what the hell Judy? I mean seriously.... _what the hell_?" To Judith's surprise (And relief) Tapeesa did not sound particularly shaken or scared, she sounded angry. "Where did this _come_ from?"

 

"I don't know, wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. It's been our luck over the past few months to wonder into a meth deal, wouldn't you say?" She tried for a wry tone, and she felt a grin tug at her lips when she saw Tapeesa have to suppress her own smile. "Par for the course." She chuckled slightly, then looked over her shoulder as the shrieking finally began to ebb and saw Korra kneeling over the now-sobbing dealer, wrapping a piece of cloth over the wound and with the bloody knife lying on the ground beside her. Judith felt a frown try to rise, the time it would take to bandage the man who had attacked them might very well cause them more trouble, but the disapproval was easy to quash; she did not want to have the death of somebody so petty on her conscience from bleeding out over such a nothing event.

　

"I suppose it is," Tapeesa said, "I guess I'll need to get used to this course we're playing on."

　

"Well, if you ask me, you're aleady reducing your handicap."

 

"Thanks, I'm glad I can...uh...beat the spread?" Her brow lowered in almost comical fashion, and she asked "Can we switch to a different analogy now?  I'm out of sports terminology." Judith could only laugh and nod her head in agreement, then twitched as she felt a hand touch her shoulder before she realized who it was.

　

"We should go now," Asami said, taking hold of her arm to help her up, "the police are on their way, somebody must have notified them." Distant sirens could be heard approaching rapidly.

　

"Right, gotta get going, we don't want to be here when the cops show up." The sirens were already almost upon them, probably only minutes away, and as quickly as they could the four of them them clambered into their car. Asami had begun to pull out, ready to ease on down the street before the police arrived as casual as any other driver and hopefully avoid any further notice, when Tapeesa glanced out the window and saw the dropped bag which had started everything still lying on the sidwalk.

　

"Wait!" She shouted, and Asami jerked to a stop in one of the few abrupt motions she had ever had behind the wheel of a vehicle. "Grab the bag!"

　

"What?" Korra asked, staring around in confusion. "I don't understand," Judith began at the same time, running into Asami's "We don't have time."

　

"No, listen, we have to--" but just as Tapeesa was beginning, a police officer on foot burst out of the alley almost immediately in front of them. He was breathing heavily and running alone, in all likelihood he had been on foot nearby when the police had grown aware of what had happened here and had been called away from his patrol by a radio call or the sound of the sirens.  As a single body he did not present a very credible physical impediment to Asami continuing to drive down the street, any one person could be avoided at need, however it was not his physical capabilities that were dangerous; as soon as he made it to the street he pulled up short and stared directly at them.

　

Whatever it was that he had been told had occured at this location, whether the police had been given precise details by whoever had called or if all they knew was that a drug deal had gone bad, he had clearly put enough together as he faced their car head-on. His eyes briefly darted quickly around, taking in the dozen disabled people lying on the ground, before coming back to rest on Asami behind the wheel. She returned his gaze evenly, not looking away or shifting under his gaze, as she smoothly slid her hand to the gear selector. At the same time, she could see the cop's right hand curl into itself, too loose to be called a fist but too tense be anything else as it drifted towards his hip. His head tilted slightly to one side, as if gauging the distance to the car, and his gaze slid up from Asam's face to run over the other three women in the car.

　

They were frozen together in that instant for what might have been millennia, without a sound or single motion from anybody else in the car.  With her eyes never leaving his face, over the quiet purr of the idling engine and the screaming whine of the sirens that were just a street or two away now, Asami said as calmly as she could, "Korra, grab the bag," and then she ratcheted the car into reverse and slammed the accelerator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dropping to the ground really is one of the simplest, easiest and most effective ways of breaking out of a hold. Aperson's fingers are not strong enough to individually support the ~150 pounds that most humans fall into, no matter how strong they might be in general, and you'll fall right out of their hands.
> 
> If you want to see the exact tension I envision the climax of this chapter having, check out the beginning of the car chase in _Jack Reacher_ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQintjPovHA (It starts around the 40 second mark and goes for a little bit less than a minute).
> 
> That is, in all seriousness, one of the best-directed minutes of screen time ever put to film. Leaving aside the entire rest of the movie, whether you liked it or didn't like it, whether you know the books or don't know the books, and ignoring all the reveals that come up later, those two eyeballing each other is a @#$%ing _masterpiece_. No dialogue, very little motion, just eyes and tension and the ambient noise provided by the car's idling engine. I re-watched that scene a dozen times just to see if I could somehow capure what it had.


	117. Chapter 117

Korra had not known **exactly** what Asami had been about to do, but the warning had been all that she had needed and when they lurched backwards under Asami's guidance she was ready for their vehicle's eruption. Swinging open the door as Asami locked the wheel and they slid around to aim down the road, Korra reached out towards the bag lying on the ground and _pulled_ towards herself; the ground beneath the bag heaved and it leapt through the air towards her, scattering some of the bags and money within it before it slammed into her waiting arms. Just after she pulled it inside, the force of their spin slammed the door closed beside her and Korra turned her head to say "Let's go." Almost before she had finished speaking, Asami had shifted forward into 'drive' and their tires clawed at the surface and threw the vehicle forward amid a cloud of smoke and dust drawn up from where their rubber lit the asphalt.

 

The cop that had happened upon them reacted as soon as they began to move, but his shouted words were drowned out by the howl of their passage and in the time it took for Korra glance back at him they were nearly a block away. He held a weapon in his hand, but his real danger was in the radio he held near his lips, clearly relaying information to those other officers around them. "They're going to be ready for us," Korra said, but Asami's only response was to lean a little heavier onto the accelerator before wrenching the steering wheel to the side and sending them careening down a street so narrow Korra had thought it was just an alley walkway. Seconds after they made the turn, the sound of a siren ricoched down the alley after them and they caught a glimpse of flashing lights darting past the entrance as police cars converged on the site of the original conflict. "Hold on," Asami warned, and when they burst from the alley's end she wrenched the steering wheel again, slinging them to the side and sliding them onto the roadway without any time taken to decelerate or curve the turn.

 

A cacophony of car horns and the sounds of impact enveloped them.

 

The side street where they had parked their car had had no thru-traffic at all during their sudden departure, but this road apparently saw more use. At their unexpected appearance several cars had slammed on their brakes, some of them not fast enough to avoid bumping into the cars in front of them that had had the same thought. The entire block came to a halt almost instantly, blocked ahead and behind them by cars frozen in place by the press around them. At the sight of the traffic, and the impediment it would pose to their movements, Asami gripped the steering wheel a little tighter....and smiled.

 

Most people thought a car chase was about the speed of the vehicle, and to be truthful speed did play a significant factor when you had the space and the straighaways to make use of it, but a car chase in a _city_ was an entirely different proposition. Even in a small, spread-out city like this one. It did not matter if your car could exceed 100 miles per hour if you had to slow down to make a sharp turn every hundred feet, or how much acceleration you could put out when you were blocked every instant by vehicles moving at a walking pace. The reliability of the car and the skill of the driver was the deciding factor more than performance, and though the police familiarity with the city, superior numbers and coordination would certainly stand them in good stead, when it came down to a contest of skill-against-skill and faith in the quality of their maintenance....

 

"This is going to be rough," she warned again, and then the car lurched as she dove them forward to squeeze between a tiny opening that offered them an access way around their immediate jam. Behind them, flashing lights reflecting off building walls said that the police cars which had passed the alley a few seconds ago had been turned around and were following in their tracks.

　

* * *

　

"Do we know where we're going?" Korra asked, clutching the door to hold herself steady as they jerked back and forth.

　

"Not precisely, no, I do not have the layout of this city memorized," Asami retorted, slamming the brakes then gunning to the side to squeeze around a parked van. "But I do have an idea. Which direction will take us towards the edge of the city that _doesn't_ connect to the highway?"

　

"Uh...south-east, I think?" Tapeesa's voice from the back was a little shaky, likely from the constant shifting as they darted between moving vehicles and around stopped ones. She struggled to remember the map she had half-reviewed earlier in the day as they wandered the city. "I think it leads to wild swamps once you get outside the construction over there."

　

"Thank you," Asami said, then quickly swerved aside around a young couple that had been about to cross the street in front of them.

　

"Wait, we're not going to start lamming it through the swamp, are we?" Tapeesa asked, "Because I kinda like this car."

　

"That should not be necessary," Asami grinned, "we will have many opportunities to return to the roadway that the police will not have." The others were silent for a few seconds, then Korra began to laugh aloud as she realized Asami's plan, and her laughter brought out small chuckles from Tapeesa and Joo Dee. "Now, however, I believe we could use some accompaniment." Taking the cue as Asami continued to drive, Korra reached over and turned on the car's radio, trusting in the fortuitousness of fate to make whatever came out appropriate to the situation.

　

Fate did not disappoint.

　

As the drums pounded out of the speakers, the singers spoke as if reaching out directly to the four of them as they prepared for the song itself.

　

" _Are you **ready** Steve?_

_Uh-huh._

_Andy?_

_Yeah._

_Mick?_

_Okay._

_All right fellas, well let's **GOOOOOOOOO**!_ "

　

The guitar and drum riff began in ernest after the scream, serving almost as punctuation to the sudden appearance of flashing lights in the rearview mirror as three police vehicles pulled into formation behind them.

　

* * *

　

The engine clammored for attention again as Asami unleashed the acceleration, briefly pulling out ahead of the pursuing vehicles and putting just enough distance between them that she had time to slow down enough to make the next turn at appropriate speed and take off at the right angle. The pursuing vehicles jockeyed for position, unsure of each other, and by the time they all made the turn Asami had already made it down the block and was taking the next turn.

　

Unfortunately, even with such a lead she could not simply pull out ahead and leave their pursuers in the distance. After the turn she had to pull back instantly as she came up against several cars backed up at a red light while traffic crossed in front of them. Veering to the side, she drew out into the oncoming traffice lane and leap-frogged around the cars waiting patiently for their turn. Pausing for half a moment for a clear opportunity, she rushed the horn then bolted the line to cross through the passing traffic and continue further down the road. The three cops were behind them, driving through the intersection themselves with roaring sirens to hold the crossing traffic.

　

At the next intersection they happened to have the green light, and Asami began to put on more speed to ride through directly. As she was passing through, though, she dropped the brake and spun to the side, skidding wildly but also shedding velocity drastically and leaving her positioned to take off down the cross street almost instantly. The pursuers had not prepared for that, perhaps because they had seen her slow down for an appropriate turn at the last intersection, and as the first car tried to duplicate her maneuver it was hit by the second, which did not manage to compensate enough for the sharp change. Neither had been able to build up much speed in absolute terms given the short city street they had come from, but it was enough given the total intertia each car carried. They crumpled together with a deep, echoing rumble, and the third car was blocked by the wreck as Asami continued for another block before she turned off again.

　

After another two random changes in direction, she turned deliberately to the south-east and began heading towards the city limits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I settled on Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" for the Suspiciously Apropos Music I considered Ram Jam's "Black Betty" and Golden Earrings "Radar Love". It was a tough decision, they all have an energetic guitar and a heckuva riff with the right screaming in the lyrics, but in the end the Man in the Back won out.
> 
> * * *
> 
> So, how do I say this? Well, I suppose I'll say it like this: **_200,000 WORDS!!!!!!!!!_**
> 
> Woo!
> 
> Thank you so much to the people who have read from the very beginning, thank you so much to be people who just started now, and thank you so much to everybody in between. Knowing that people are reading this and thinking about it and (Hopefully) enjoying it is a rush like nothing else. You're all great!


	118. Chapter 118

The division between the city and the surrounding wetlands was almost as sharp as a knife; the trappings of urban life dropped away mere blocks past the city limits, giving way to swamps and marshland stretching for miles with only the occasional shack or unpaved crossroad. The road itself narrowed and fell into disrepair, and barely a mile past the last collection of outbuildings it had been so subsumed by water and mud in the past that it was now almost a dirt trail.

 

"You said we weren't going to be forced to start trekking through a swamp, and I believed you, but can you _please_ tell me how we're getting out of here?" Tapeesa's voice was plaintive, "And why didn't we just drive right to the highway anyway?"

 

"If we were to escape towards they highway, the police would have been able to pursue us easily, or make contact with other police that are already stationed on the highway," Asami replied, her gaze sweeping back and forth as she eyed the surrounding swampland. "Anywhere we drive could have been warned of our presence and the warning would spread. If they believe that we are trapped in these wilds then this is where they will focus their search, and they will continue to search here even long after we have left this area."

 

"How _are_ we going to get out of here? You don't have teleportation powers you've been keeping a secret, do you?" Judith's words were light....with just enough weight to them to make it an honest question.

 

"Tele...portation?" Korra glanced at Asami, who shrugged at the unfamiliar word. "I do not know this word."

 

"Oh, uh, teleporting is when you can disappear in one place and reappear somewhere else." Judith looked almost sheepish. "I wasn't _entirely_ serious."

 

"No, I do not have this power," Korra said, "not when we are cut off from the Spirit World." Judith's eyes widened at Korra's statement that under certain circumstances she _could_ teleport, but Korra continued before she could make any remark. "Thankfully, we do not need to be teleporting."

 

Judith opened her mouth to ask another question, to finally pin down just what it was that Korra and Asami meant when they kept giving these evasive answers, but before she could speak Asami seemed to finally see what she had been looking for. Saying something to Korra that Judith could not catch, she spun the car to the side and plunged off the road, heading almost directly towards the nearest edge of the swamp. Judith's unasked question started to become a shouted warning, but instead of bogging down in the mud and water that should have swallowed them whole, the car continued forward at the same steady pace. The journey might have even gotten a bit smoother, losing the jarring bumps that had come from the overwashed road.

 

"What the...." Tapeesa began to ask the same question Judith had not managed to get out, but fell silent as she noticed that Korra was moving around drastically in the front seat. Her motions were cramped and frantic given the constraints of the surrounding vehicle, but her bending was still readily apparent. Before them, the mud and water and muck of the swamp was being replaced with smooth, solid rock that headed deep into the swamp.

 

Laughing at Judith and Tapeesa's surprise, Asami explained, "This is how we escaped from Montreal," and calmly continued to drive through the undriveable swamp.

 

* * *

 

 

After they had set up their camp in the evening, having circled around the city back to the highway and travelled almost to the border with the neighboring state of Mississippi, the four travellers began to settle themselves down in preparation for sleep and the next day's travel. Before they completely ended the activities of the day, Korra reached back into the car and tossed over to Tapeesa the bag from earlier in the day, which she had been insistant they take with them. "Here," she called as she passed the pack, "why was it important that we bring this with us?"

 

"I...I had a thought. We don't want to be discovered for who we are, right? If the RCAF ever realized we were down here in the States they'd probably talk to the President or whoever and get the Marines combing the whole country for us, so we don't want to give them any clues. Well, if we bust up a drug buy or whatever we stumbled into back there and then vanish into thin air, that's going to attract attention, won't it? A story about good samaritans that tied up a bunch of drug dealers and left them and the evidence for the cops...I don't know of many crimefighters with superpowers running around, we'd probably go viral and everybody who knows anything will recognize you two right away. But if we take the drugs _with_ us..." Tapeesa shrugged and looked down at the bag she held before her. "A rival gang messing up a deal and stealing the drugs and money is barely even newsworthy. Just another example of criminals getting in each other's way, and without a body count I doubt it will even get a news report."

 

The other three stared at Tapeesa for an instant, then Judith reached over and pulled her down against herself, reaching up and brushing her head with her knuckles. "That's my girl," pride warmed Judith's voice, "Using that big brain of yours."

 

Tapeesa felt a grin break out on her face, then slowly dim. "Besides...." She wound down and looked down at the bag again, her expression tightening.

 

"Besides what?" Judith prodded.

 

"I didn't want to leave any of this glass lying around for somebody else to pick up." Her voice was unwontedly harsh as her face pinched. Deliberately, she overturned the bag and dumped out the drugs and the money it contained into a pile on the ground. Purposefully, she lifted one leg and ground one of the small plastic bags into the dirt beneath her heel.

 

"Well then, let's see what _we_ can use," and sweeping aside the bags of drugs, Judith and Tapeesa began counting the money they had fortuitously added to their funds. It was less than it seemed at first glance given the number of individual bills, but many of them were in small denominations and all told they had received less than a thousand dollars. Still, that was a thousand dollars more than they had had earlier in the day, and given how strapped for cash they had been for weeks it seemed a fortune. When they were finished sorting and packaging the money together they stepped back and nodded to Korra, and after a single smooth motion the bags of drugs sank into the dirt, vanishing from sight.

 

The four of them then turned back to their final sleeping preparations, glad to be ready to rest after the day's exertions. Before she lay down to sleep, Judith picked up the empty bag and prepared to toss it amongst the rest of their baggage to be used the next day. However, as she held it she realized that despite appearances it _wasn't_ empty, she could feel a solid weight pulling it down. Looking the bag over she could not see any way to open the pouch which must have been there, and her curiosity rose as she realized whatever it was had been sewn into the bag itself. Feeling around the edges of the fabric, she could make out the vague shape which seemed tanatlizingly familiar, almost like...she drew her hand back quickly at her realization, since it would be just like a bunch of drug dealers to leave the safety off or a round in the chamber.

 

"Hey, Korra, can you pass me a knife?" Korra looked up at the question, then slid over to Judith one of the sharp shards she had crafted herself on their journey. Tenderly, afraid of jostling or knocking the hammer (Only a novice would have taken all the motion of the day as assurance that there was no danger at all), Judith cut away the fabric covering up the hidden pouch at the bottom of the bag.

 

Passing the knife back to Korra, she looked down at the emergent gun she now held in her hand.


	119. Chapter 119

Despite the advancing hour, which had already seen the sun set several hours ago, Asami resisted letting herself fall into the pile of bedding that has been spread out against one of the walls that Korra had erected for the evening. After the quick fight and then lengthy escape earlier in the day the thought of the soft padding and warm blankets was almost impossible to defy, not to mention how soft and warm Korra looked already asleep, but she tore her gaze away with a will and focused back on Joo Dee. Sitting close beside the fire, the other woman had the gun they had retrieved disassembled and spread out before her.

 

Taking in the sight of the spread-out pieces Asami reflected back to her and Korra's journey to Montreal, when she had taken apart one of these guns herself. Had it only been three months earlier? With everything that had happened it felt like so much longer. Her shoulder twinged in what she dismissed as surely an imaginary pain, a remembrance of what had happened, but she remembered how the weapon had worked. She had broken it down to understand its function, so she and Korra could be prepared to encounter them in the future and be ready for the danger they represented. Their capabilities still fascinated her, particularly the chemistry of the explosive propellant, but she also could not deny the distaste she felt at what they represented. She had examined the weapon because they needed to understand it before they threw it away, it had been one more puzzle piece in this strange world which they were still becoming familiar with, but Joo Dee was clearly not working from the same perspective.

 

Joo Dee had taken out their small set of tools as soon as she had discovered the weapon and begun to methodically take apart and inspect the mechanism and pieces of the device, laying out each individual part on a smooth shelf that Korra had flattened for her. She did not seem to be trying to understand its nature, but rather was checking its condition, occasionally wiping pieces with a damp cloth to clear off a smudge or removing some brackish buildup. She worked slowly and more than a little clumsily, impeded in such precise miniscule movements by the lack of control she had over her right arm, but she had grown comfortable with using only her left arm over the past month and continued gamely. When she finally seemed satisfied she placed the last piece amongst the rest of the disassembled parts, then seemed to notice for the first time that Tapeesa and Korra had both fallen asleep long ago. Eyeing Asami, she quirked her eyebrow in silent question.

 

"They did not want to interrupt you," Asami explained, "Especially not when you were so focused."

 

"Ah, thanks for that, I wanted to be thorough, I'm not exactly filled with confidence that this was getting the proper care and maintenance." She held up one of the cloths that she had used, which was marked and smudged throughout. "Kel-Tec wouldn't have been my first choice in the first place, I don't want to help it jam by leaving it ugly as well."

 

"Kel...tech?" From the context it was clear that the term referred to the gun, but Asami had never heard that particular word before. "Is that the type of gun this is?"

 

"No...well, actually, yes, but not in the way you mean." Slowly, Joo Dee began to reassemble the weapon, slotting it back together again as she spoke. "That's the manufacturer, such as it is." The words were different, of course, but Asami recognized Joo Dee's tone immediately, and she felt a grin trying to force its way onto her face as she wondered what had become of Cabbage Corp since she and Korra had disappeared from their world. She watched Joo Dee begin to form a single weapon again, which at least seemed to stay in one piece better than some Cabbage Corp products. "They do not make quality products?"

 

Joo Dee snorted, then finished the recombination and held up the gun again. Asami noted that even though she was purposefully displaying the weapon, she held it pointed away from anybody and angled slightly downwards towards the ground. "I've never worked with this model, but at first look I'd say it's reasonable for what it wants to be; small, light, easy to carry and easy to conceal, and it's even got a smooth look to it. But it's a Kel-Tec." The disdain she had displayed before was just slightly more pronounced now, the voice of a professional looking down at amateur work. "Chief Thompson used to say..." She paused for a moment, and her tone shifted as she ran into the life she had left behind a few months ago. "Chief Thompson always said he wouldn't trust his life to a Kel-Tec, and I learned a _long_ time ago to listen to the weapons tech. They're low-end where it counts, looking good without the quality to back it up. If I had my druthers and I was picking something like this for quiet carry....probably the Springfield XD-S. It's a _little_ bit bigger, but I know a lot of people who left the service and switched over to the Springfield line for personal use. However, beggars can't be choosers." She picked up the device which held the ammunition within the weapon and began fiddling with its bullets.

 

Asami watched her struggling with loading for a few seconds, then reached over and took them into her own hands to. She had never handled the like before, the gun she had taken apart on the way to Montreal had had a circular cylinder to hold its individual bullets, not this thin rectangular case that she had learned was called either a 'clip' or a 'magazine', but its use was simple enough. Even having just watched Joo Dee fumble single-handedly for a short moment she could have easily loaded the weapon. "Why do you want to keep the gun?" she asked quietly.

　

"To generate and maintain combat capable, multi-purpose, air forces to meet Canada's defence objectives." The response came flatly, clearly reciting by wrote. "That's the RCAF role. We serve for the protection of others, and right now I don't see how I can do much protecting unarmed." She made a short twitching motion of her shoulders that Asami realized was her demonstrating how much she _couldn't_ move her right arm.

　

Asami bit down on her first instinctive retort--she imagined how she would react if somebody ever tried to get her to abandon her own defense by talking about how _they_ could protect _her_ \--and instead asked, "Do _we_ need protecting?" That drew another snort of laughter from Joo Dee, who shook her head in denial as her body shook with mirth.

　

"No, I think _you_ two are pretty secure, but things get very....energetic....around you. More energetic than I can believe sometimes, and me and 'Saw are right in the line with you." Despite the fact that she had just referenced the paralyzed arm that had come after she had gotten shot there was no blame in her words, just a statement of fact. "We could follow you across the country from your news reports before we bumped into each other again. Hell, we literally walked into a drug deal on the street today. I've been stationed on three continents and I've never heard of anything like it, it's like you two  put out some kind of homing signal that attracts crazy people. And I trust you, I do, but I can't just give up and let you carry me when the next insane thing hits, and I can't let you carry 'Saw, either. .380 ACP might not have bending versatility, but it gives us more options than hiding while you and Korra do all the heavy lifting."

　

Asami nodded, and after a moment began feeding the bullets into the case. "You are correct that these weapons do not have the versatility of bending. They cannot be controlled or reduced, these kill only."

　

Now Joo Dee laughed without mirth. "Teach your grandmother to suck eggs," she said, then had to explain at Asami's confused expression, "Uh....it means I know. _Believe_ me, I know. I might not be able to build a tazer out of a toaster, or whatever you used to make that glove, but now you're talking about what I _can_ do." A bit of pride leaked into her voice, touched by the same catch that had been there before. "This isn't a salve on my pride I'm talking about, or a toy, it's what I can do to survive in this crazy world we live in now."

　

Asami had finished loading the case and was silent after Joo Dee spoke, then passed it over. Instead of putting it into the weapon, however, Joo Dee laid it on the shelf, then pulled herself to her feet and stepped over to the water Korra had drawn up earlier. "Now come on, we gotta wash up."

　

"Wash?" Asami looked down at her hands, which were marked with remnants of oil and metal, but not enough to make washing a mandate.

　

"Clean-up basics after handling ammo like you just did; you wash off with cold water. Lead in the casings, maybe lead dust in the air, mercury in primers, you need to be real careful about that. Even if it's only six rounds, you need to get into the habit." Joo Dee slipped her hand into the bucket and began to run it back and forth, scrubbing off the metallic residue clinging to her skin. "There are rules to firearms, and there are a _lot_ of them, but they exist for a reason. So, right now, come wash your hands."

　

Asami got up and washed her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be a quote from a reader's comment from early in the fic buried in this chapter, since there really was no better way to say it so succinctly.
> 
> I'd originally intended for the pistol to be a Springfield XD-S like Judith recommended, but the problem is that it **is** a good quiet-carry weapon. It's the pistol that a lot of police and soldiers purchase for personal use; it's compact, concealable and (Most importantly) _reliable_. Professional. Not the kind of gun that will be gathered up by stumbling into a drug deal on the street as happened here.
> 
> Washing your hands after handling ammunition is a basic rule of firearms because of all the heavy metals involved, long-term exposure can be hazardous to your health. Most people will say that handling only six rounds doesn't make it a very pressing issue due to the limited contact, and I'd probably agree, but like Judith said, it's a habit you want to get into because you want to get into _all_ the habits. Most firearms rules don't allow any leeway, so you make sure to follow all the rules all the time.


	120. Chapter 120

Judith shifted around minutely under her heavy jacket and tried to find her proper center of balance. When viewed dispassionately she recognized that she had come remarkably far in her recovery ever since they had washed up on the shores of Washington, farther than she would have believed possible given just how badly her body had been torn up during their escape from CFB Comox, but she was still a long way from regaining her full functionality (If she ever would).  She was still re-learning how to walk unaided, and right now she had locked the joints on her leg braces to keep her as steady as possible.  She shifted again, one last time, then moved.

 

She had never been a quick-draw artist, and she did not try to emulate it now, but instead focused on pulling a smooth left-handed draw from her hip.  Chief Warrant Officer Thompson had drilled in the message over and over again during her elementary training, and again when they had been stationed together years later: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Trying to break a record on a draw was the best way to wind up losing control of the weapon, possibly even with an errant shot going who-knows-where.  So, all she tried to do was bring her arm up into an easy ready position.

 

She was working with a mock-up she had asked Korra to metalbend for her; the same shape and weight as a pistol, but without any of the dangers of handling a live weapon (Even unloaded) until she was confident in her ability to control it. Right from the beginning the motions all felt wrong, starting from using her off-hand and extending to the way her right arm was tightly wrapped in a sling, compounded by the fact that her balance _still_ was not right. The draw itself was jerky, and she snagged the end of the barrel on the hanging edge of her jacket. Snarling under her breath, she was tempted to yank her arm free and swing her hand up anyway, but she fought down that urge and let her hand drop back down to rest next to her leg. The draw had already been blocked, and getting frustrated enough to bully through was the opposite of what she was practicing.  Grimacing, she resettled herself, and then moved again.

 

This time she did not catch on any part of her clothing, but she watched in horror as her sweat-slicked hold slipped just as she reached the top of her arc and the metal slid right out of her hand.

 

She did not shout or curse, but as she stared down at where the metallic lump lay in the dirt her shoulders slumped the tiniest bit, and the fingers on her left hand twitched, as if still trying to grasp the grip.  When her scrutiny finally dropped away she reached down and unlocked the joints on her braces, then began to arduously work her way down to the ground.

 

"Hey, hold it, let me give you a hand." Tapeesa came jogging up behind her and tugged on her shoulder to keep her upright, carrying something wrapped in garish paper in her other hand.  "Ease up," she said, and reached down to pick up the mock-up.

 

"Thanks, I...I mean..." Judith's sentence hung unfinished in the air and she made a few aimless motions towards the mock-up that Tapeesa held.

 

"It's okay, Judy. It's...just come sit down," drawing her hand, Tapeesa lead her over to where their bedding had been splayed out on the ground, carrying the wrapped package in the crook of her arm along with the mock-up.  After they were settled, she set down the package and drew Judith in close against her and had to force herself not to react as she felt the shivers.  They were small but pervasive as Judith's entire body trembled, and Tapeesa had to fight not to freeze up.

 

Summoning up forced cheer, Tapeesa held up the package she had brought over. "Hey, look what I got," and tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a multi-branched candleholder that gleamed in the firelight.  "Happy Hanukkah."

 

The sheer unexpectedness of the sight burst a laugh from Judith, "What?"

 

"Happy Hanukkah!" Tapeesa repeated, "It's the first night!"

 

"No it's not, it's.....is it?"  There'd been holiday decorations on the buildings in every town they passed for weeks now, bunting for upcoming Christmas and Hanukkah and leftovers from Halloween and Thanksgiving, but they had not been helpful in helping her pick out the date.  Particularly since she had not made a point in keeping track of shifting dates in the Jewish calendar for years.  "How'd you know? And where did you get _that_?"

 

"I saw one of those holiday calendars a few days ago with the dates lined up, and I asked Korra to knock this out for me.  So, once again, 'Happy Hanukkah!'"  She was jogging Judith's shoulder now, who seemed to realize what she was waiting for. "Uh....Happy Hanukkah!" she finally replied.

 

"Korra!" Tapeesa called, "A little help?" and a second later the ground next to them leapt up into a small stone table, which Tapeesa stood the candelabra on. Humming to herself, Tapeesa pulled two candles out of her pocket and set them into two of the holders.

 

"'Saw....what are you doing?"

 

"We're going to light the menorah, what do you think?"

 

"No, I mean, what are you _doing_?"

 

"We did this every year when we were growing up, always on the first night, no matter what. Right?  So, now that we're back together again we can't very well break with tradition now, can we?"

 

"'Saw, I haven't....I stopped observing a long time ago.  Long before everything started with Korra and Asami.  I left this behind when I enlisted like I left everything else, it wasn't just my family I needed to get away from."

 

"Yeah, but that was then, and this is now.  We might not be the Maccabees, but we're fighting against overwhelming odds and we're counting on something more than ourselves to sustain us beyond where we expected to last.  Is there any better connection to the story of Hanukkah?"

 

"No, that's....you're really stretching here." As she so often found herself when she was talking to Tapeesa, Judith was trying to frown repressively, but could not quite seem to make it work.

 

"Of course I'm stretching, because I see you retracting."  The sentence was delivered with such matter-of-fact calmness that Judith’s head tilted to the side as she tried to wrap her mind around and make sense of it, but before she could respond Tapeesa had leapt to her feet again and reached down to assist Judith back to standing position. “Come on, time to light the _shamash_.”

 

Allowing herself to be pulled to her feet, Judith looked down at the menorah which gleamed brightly, but not with the dull silver/grey look of the material Korra usually had to work with.  It shined almost golden, like brass or bronze, which she knew they had _not_ had lying around as a spare supply, and she wondered where they could possibly have gotten the source metal from.  Had Tapeesa been scrounging metallic scraps?  Digging up old cans and hoarding them in secret so that she could spring this surprise?  How long had she worked on this?  Then she glanced to the side and saw Tapeesa eyeing her, not even trying to be subtle about it but flat-out _staring_ , and she shook off the chain of thoughts she was following. At least for now. “It’s been a long time,” she cautioned Tapeesa, “I’m not sure I even remember the prayers.”

 

“Trust me, you remember.” Grabbing the _shamash_ candle, Tapeesa passed it to Judith, who held it in her hand and wrapped her fingers around it, remembering the celebrations when they had been children and  their families had gotten together for the holidays.  Holding the candle aloft, Judith called out, “Korra!  One more time?” and with a flash of light the wick burst into flames.

 

“...בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי” Tapeesa was right, the actual prayer came back to her as she lit the other candle as readily as when she had been a child, but then Judith stopped as the meaning behind the words came back to her.  She had not uttered the formalized recitations in years, had not thought she ever would again, but as she ran the stilted formula through her mind she took a deep breath and began again, slow and smoothly.

 

"בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה"

 

* * *

 

 

Watching Tapeesa and Joo Dee together, Korra snuggled in a little closer to Asami, laying her head on Asami's chest and taking comfort in the arms wrapped tightly around her. She closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep in the warm embrace when she felt a light tickle of hair brush across her cheek. She shook her head, murmuring almost inaudibly, and attempted to shake off the distraction that was pulling her back from sleep, but each movement instead just brushed the dangling strands against her cheek again. Not just her cheek, but brushing against her eyes and nose the rest of her face as well. Finally opening her eyes she did her best to glare up at Asami, whose hair was cascading down over the both of them as she leaned down and rested her head atop Korra's. "You're doing that on purpose," she said, trying to put an edge of hardness into her voice.

 

"Doing what?" Asami asked, eyes wide with innocence.

 

"Don't play innocent with me, you know exactly what you're doing." Korra's hard-eye stare was losing the battle against a grin trying to force its way out, but she fought it for as long as she could.

 

"What, this?" Asami curled in again, draping herself over Korra as she pressed her cheek onto Korra's crown, feeling the soft pillow of her hair. "I'm just trying to find myself a comfortable position." As she spoke her hair fell forward again, completely obscuring Korra's face.

 

"Yeah? Well, your 'comfortable position' is about to get...uh....very _un_ comfortable!" Korra's grin finally won out over her glare as she heard Asami laugh, and her expression split into a wide smile as she tilted her head up until she was able to line up with Asami. Lunging forward--at least as much as she could lunge given that she was twisted and entangled in what felt like a dozen a limbs--she caught Asami's lips with hers, and the two of them froze together as they enmeshed. They remained together briefer than either of them would have preferred, separating as their twisted posture forced them apart as their muscles began to register their complaints, and they fell back into the same positions they had held before. Laying her head atop Korra's again, Asami gazed forward through the fire and saw Joo Dee and Tapeesa still before their lamp, the candles dwindled almost to extinction now.

 

"When _did_ you find the time to make that, anyway?" Asami asked.

 

"It wasn't hard," Korra said, "just some metalbending shaping, especially when she decided to just use candles and not actually use an oil well. If she'd tried to stick to _that_ idea I'd have needed you to show me what she was talking about. I was able to get almost everything done a few nights ago after Joo Dee went to sleep. The biggest problem was that I'd already finished it with seven branches and then Tapeesa said it needed to have _nine_ , so I had to redo the whole thing." Korra felt Asami's chuckle more than she heard it, the rumble passing right through their bodies as they pressed together.

 

"Well, I'm glad you got it finished in time, especially for them. Sometimes it feels like they're more out of their world here than we are." Asami's voice had grown soft and tender just as the candles sputtered out.

 

"They're getting better," Korra said, "Especially considering how everything started for them. Give it some more time and they'll be right as rain, it's only been...a few months..." She opened her mouth to say something else, but then seemed to realize what she was about to say and bit down on her words instead. Asami noticed her visible backtracking and prodded, "What is it?"

 

"I just realized, it's been almost six months since we showed up in this world. That's.....they're probably having the Glacier Spirits Festival back home at the South Pole right now, getting ready for the solstice." Korra's voice was not sad, not exactly, but all of a sudden the weight of the past months was painfully apparent in her words. "I thought we'd have been home already."

 

"I know, me too." Asami squeezed Korra a little bit tighter, letting her presence be the reassurance that really could not be formed into words. "Sometimes it's hard for me to remember just how long it's been since we left the Spirit World; some days it feels like we just got here, and so much keeps happening that I don't have time to dwell on what happened. Almost every day it's something new."

 

"What do you think's happening back home?"

 

"You mean apart from the Glacier Spirits Festival?" Korra's chuckle at Asami's teasing tone was as quiet as Asami's had been, more felt than heard. "Yes, _apart_ from the Glacier Spirits Festival."

 

"I'm sure that by now Tenzin's back home at Air Temple Island with all of the kids, relaxing because they have solved all of the world's problems. Bolin's starring in a brand new Nuktuk mover based on this idea I heard Varrick mumbling about that he had when they were trying to escape Kuvira. Lin's mayor of Republic City, and Suyin has been elected President of the new Earth nation, with Wu as...Grand Secretariat? Mako's the new Republic City chief of police, and he even found himself a place to live outside of the police station. Opal is somehow managing to be both a doting house-girlfriend to Bolin and is also a secret agent for Lin who uses Bolin filming his movers as a cover story for her adventures." Korra had begun laughing as soon as Asami got to the part about Bolin's movers, and descended into uncontrollable fits at Opal's adventures. "Varrick, now....I have absolutely no idea what Varrick's up to, and truthfully, I'm okay with that. Raiko, of course, has decided to retire from the Presidency and has moved to the Earth nation where he can stay out of everybody's way and stop getting involved in situations that he will only make worse. His poll numbers went up super-high after the announcement and he's got a _lot_ of support for that plan." Korra's laughter doubled as Asami explained what had happened to Raiko in their absence. "And though everybody's lives are going wonderfully, and there's nothing at all to be worried about, they all still miss the powerful, beautiful, kind and caring Avatar that helped make it all happen. They're waiting for her to return, and sparing an occasional thought for the girlfriend who knows how lucky she is to be with the woman that she doesn't deserve, and they know that they'll all be there for her when she gets back."

 

Korra's laughter had been too deep to just stop all at once, but she managed to fight down her guffaws until they were just body-shaking twitches, and then silenced them completely. When she finally trusted herself to speak she opened her mouth only to be surprised by another burst of laughter, and it took her nearly a minute before she was willing to try again.

 

From across the campfire came Joo Dee's call.  "Hey, what's so funny over there?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with quite a bit of commentary, so get comfortable....
> 
> The holiday celebration of this chapter is heavily inspired by Week 33, Day 5 of the comic series _52_ , and is one of the very few events that I've actually planned to have in here for a long time. Much of this story is written as I go; apart from the general arc of the plot (Which I _do_ have planned to the end, so don't worry about that) it comes chapter-by-chapter as I re-write and think up new ideas (For example, I hadn't decided on a Kel-Tec P-3AT pistol until _after_ the chapter-ending where Judith cut it out of the bag). However, as soon as I realized the similarities that I had written into Judith and Tapeesa's relationship with that of Renee Montoya and Kate Kane, this was an inevitability. I didn't have anything specific in mind, but I knew it was coming.
> 
> The opening was also originally going to be much more of a downer based on rehabilitation relapse, with a complete crying breakdown after Judith dropped the model pistol. When people encounter continuing difficulties after thinking they'd gotten past them it can hit harder than the original problem ever did (They explored that with Korra herself in "Korra Alone"). I took it out not because it was too down or too much of a hit, but because the realization and resolution really came across as 'Epiphany Therapy', which is a lazy writing cliche I hate (It's where people with a problem are instantly cured once they realize "Wait, I need to _get better!_ " and is often used to sweep under the rug serious problems that should take months or years to deal with).
> 
> The Hebrew prayer translates as "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us in life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment." It is said only on the first night of Hanukkah.
> 
> Asami's undoubtedly-100%-accurate predictions for what's going on back home are based an many different fanfic and fan art prompts and concepts I've seen that people have written or talked about for post-finale stories. I'm not referring to any one specific story or creator, but you've all probably read at least one of these stories. And if these _haven't_ been written, somebody needs to get on them, because our world will not be complete until we get Opal's secret agent adventures.


	121. Chapter 121

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is the one year anniversary of the premiere of season four of _The Legend of Korra_ with "After All These Years" on October 3, 2014. Let us all take a moment to reflect back on the joy we got from this show.

"Not that I'm unappreciative, but I realize we don't exactly have a lot of spare cash." Tapeesa's tone was forcibly depressed, trying to stamp down on the excitement rising up. "A shopping spree isn't in the cards."

　

"A spree? No, you're right, we can't afford that. A _binge_ on the other hand..." Judith watched Tapeesa roll her eyes at the tone, then continued. "I'm not talking about blowing our entire reserve, but we've got some leeway, don't we? It's the Festival of Lights, the commemoration of my ancestors' victory over tyranny that's also trying really hard to be Christmas, I need to get you _something._ Besides, we're finally here. Shouldn't we celebrate?" and she cast her arm out in theatrical luxuriation of the sunlight.

　

They had arrived in Florida the day before, and after more than a month of temperatures described as "brisk" and "chilly" and "cool" they were finally warm. Gloriously, beautifully _warm_ , and they were walking in just normal shirtsleeves for the first time in weeks. Compared to a truly cold day in the midst of winter--or any day at all back up at Station Alert-- the weather had been only a little uncomfortable on their journey, particularly with Korra's ability to erect a solid shelter and roaring fire every evening, but Judith's spirits still rose with the temperature. Now that they had finally reached the tentative destination that they had been moving towards for two months, where they could bear out the winter in (hopefully) comfort and ease, the thought of a bit of luxury shopping did not seem like a waste of their time or money.

　

"Well, I am a fan of celebrations," Tapeesa conceded, "So I suppose I'll tag along while you get it out of your system." Having performed the necessary self-denial that was required of her, and allowing herself to be talked into it, she let the excitement begin to come back up again. "Maybe I can finally figure out what happened in Palisade."

　

"Aye, _that's_ the spirit!" Judith practically cheered, "Let's go!" and they both disappeared into the storefront flanked by windows smothered in paintings and posters of superheroes and cartoons and other such paraphernalia of fandom.

　

* * *

 

　

Korra and Asami watched Joo Dee and Tapeesa vanish into the brightly-accented entryway and slowed their own pace as they approached, taking in the almost-garish display. The large signage over the entrance -- Comics·Games·Anime -- had been briefly explained by Tapeesa when they had first driven past the store, but much of the information had been lost in the cultural translation and what they _had_ understood was almost intimidating. That and more than a little confusing.

　

"We have to go in eventually," Asami finally said.

　

"No, I don't think we do," Korra replied. "We could just stand right here in this exact spot until Tapeesa and Joo Dee come back out. We're under no obligation to follow them in."

 

Asami glanced at Korra out of the corner of her eye and felt the edge of her mouth try to quirk upwards. "What are you worried about? It can't be any worse than _The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South_."

 

"Which one? 'Cause that new mover you talked about a few nights ago might be something special." Korra's remark drew a light laugh from Asami, who could only shrug in response. "Well, come on then, let's see what all the talking has been about," and they both followed Tapeesa and Joo Dee through the doorway.

 

Standing next to the counter, Korra and Asami looked over the shop which was so different, so _alien_ , from almost anything they had encountered. It had the air of one of the specialty shops that dotted Republic City, the one-room workplaces that manufactured artisan craftsmanship, but was also almost plebian, an open retailer that catered to the masses instead of the elite. The large floor space was filled with shelving and racks that supported any number of vibrantly-colored small paperworks, statuettes, boxed toys and rolled up posters. The aisles stretched longway to the back of the store and held hundreds of different publications of the 'comicbooks' that apparently mattered so much. Joo Dee and Tapeesa were already walking down one of the aisles, with Tapeesa pointing to a different section every few steps and making some excitable remark which they could not hear as Joo Dee nodded and tried to look understanding.

 

Staring at the nearest shelving that held a row of comicbooks, Asami's first remark was "Which of these does Groot come from?"

 

"Groot...?" Korra had to think for a second, then guffawed heavily as she remembered back to the mover they had seen in _Ville de Moores_ , so soon after they arrived in this world. It seemed like so long ago, they had not even spoken any of the languages of this land then and had been staying in Kunik's house after stumbling out of the wilderness, but the mover they had watched with Pete, Claire, Jeanson and John had left an impact. Even without being able to understand anything that was said, the presentation and technology had been one of their first looks at the visual style of this world, and they had learned afterwards that its original story had come from one of these comicbooks.

 

The memory also made Korra briefly dwell on those same friends they had made in the pleasant little town, whom they had not had any contact with since their phone call to Kunik in Montreal. They had not dared make any kind of contact since then, always worried that they might give away their own location or get the family in trouble, and she and Asami both missed them for all that their friendships had been brief. Still, they had learned not to dwell, and she turned to look down one of the aisles at the line of books it displayed. "I don't know where he came from, but we can find out," and she lead the way into the search.

 

There was too much for either of them to really try to understand in totality, not like Tapeesa clearly did, there were too many different books with different styles and shapes and even languages, but they worked their way down the aisle together. Occasionally they picked a book off the shelf and flipped threw it, or admired a particular piece of artwork, and listened with half an ear as Tapeesa clearly had an ecstatic time. It was nearly an hour later, when it seemed like Tapeesa and Joo Dee were themselves winding down, that Asami noticed that Korra had stopped moving forward. She had picked up another one of the comics off a rack and begun flipping through it and now seemed so engrossed that she was not even aware that Asami had kept moving down the wall. "Korra?" She called.

 

Looking up from the comic, which looked to have a bunch of kids making faces in front of a monster with a flashlight on the cover, Korra's eyes were practically shining as she said, "We have _so much_ to learn about friendship."

 

She was glowing so brightly that Asami could only smile resignedly and say "Okay, we'll get this one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time since I last gave you all some precise location tags, a few thousand miles at least, so I thought I'd let you all know that the gang is currently hitting up Florida Super Comics in Davie, Florida.
> 
>  
> 
> Tapeesa's line "Maybe I can finally figure out what happened in Palisade" refers to the comic book _Rat Queens_ , which I highly recommend. It works as a satire/homage of tabletop gaming and RPG conventions and also as an adventure all its own. It's awesome almost beyond measure.
> 
>   
> (L-R: Hannah, Violet, Dee & Betty)
> 
>  
> 
> Korra had picked up issue #9 of _Lumberjanes_ , and I've mentioned that series before because OMG _LUMBERJANES_ YOU GUYS! If _Rat Queens_ is awesome _almost_ beyond measure, _Lumberjanes_ **is** awesome beyond measure. "Friendship to the Max!"
> 
>   
>  (L-R: Jo, Mal, Molly, Ripley, April)
> 
>  
> 
> I also pretty much included that scene because I needed to include _this_ scene from _El Goonish Shive_. They're watching _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ instead of reading _Lumberjanes_ , but it still applies.
> 
>  
> 
> During the writing I going to have a section where Korra and Asami discuss the way women were drawn on the covers of comicbooks, particularly the infamous Boobs-and-Butt pose (Where women are drawn twisting themselves nearly in half to display both their front and rear to the 'camera'), but it came across as just so artificial. Art in the _Avatar_ universe is a lot more stylized and based on traditional Chinese art (And other Asian traditions), and the two of them don't have our cultural baggage, so them seeing women drawn in that weird pose wouldn't be either comment-worthy or recognized as indicative of a long comic history.
> 
> Also, it is during this chapter that something BIG happened elsewhere in the world. The gang have no idea what it is yet (They might find out next chapter), but it is _huuuuuuge_ , and it's possible that you (The reader) might have figured it out. If you've followed all the hints I dropped earlier in the story and tracked the time properly, then maybe (Just maybe) you know what I'm talking about.
> 
> But maybe not, too, since some of my stuff was pretty obscure.
> 
> On a non-fic-related event, I'm going to the New York Comic Con this next weekend (10/9-10/11) where I fully expect to see amazing _Legend of Korra_ cosplay, fanart and everything else. Our fandom is fantastic and they never disappoint.


	122. Chapter 122

Looking up from the book splayed open on the table in front of her, Tapeesa suddenly said, "Okay, I've been thinking, and I've got an idea."

 

Sitting across the table from her, Korra felt her eyebrow try to rise of its own accord as Tapeesa's tone registered, and she turned what she hoped was a quelling expression on the other woman. As she did she slid a bookmark into the novel she herself had been working through, closing it solidly to make sure she kept her place.

 

"What?" At Korra's expression, Tapeesa's tone became instantly defensive, "What's that look for?"

 

"I know that tone," Korra said, and she tried to match her own tone to the quelling look she was still giving.

 

"What 'tone'? And what do you mean you 'know' it?" Now Tapeesa was almost comically affronted, and if they had not been sitting in a library she might have been shouting. "All I said was that I had an idea."

 

" _That_ tone," Korra reiterated, "the same one you used when you wanted me and Asami to steal our car."

 

"Oh.... _that_ tone....well, let me first say how happy I am that you know me well enough to be able to recognize my tones," Korra could not suppress a laugh at Tapeesa's line as she continued, "but I'm not talking about anything like that. I was thinking about our living arrangements. We're planning on staying around here for a while now, right?"

 

"Yeah, a few more hours at least." Joo Dee interrupted, glancing up from the newspaper she had been reading. "Until dinner, and maybe longer."

 

"No, I mean in Florida for the winter," Tapeesa corrected, "We're going to stay here until spring."

 

"Oh, yes, several months most likely." Korra could not connect their common plans to Tapeesa's mischevious tone. "We should be free to move again come March or April. Why?"

 

"Well, since we're going to be staying here for that long, not in a different town every single night, I was thinking we should get some more permanent housing. Maybe even an actual _house_." She gestured around them, at the furnishings of the Broward County Main Library where they sat. "I wouldn't mind staying somewhere with actual walls and lights."

 

"There might be something to that," Joo Dee pitched in, "Not to bring up too much, but reliable plumbing would be particularly nice."

 

Korra considered their words. As had been their habit since first arriving in this world, Korra had erected a structure for them almost every night on their journey. Providing both privacy and shelter from the elements--the latter of growing importance over the past few weeks--a simple earthen dome had sufficed for the necessities, and they had necessarily been largely utilitarian. The four of them had been required to carry all of their 'furniture' with them as they travelled from town to town, and that had forced them to limit themselves almost solely to blankets and bedrolls to serve as sleeping mats. Though the result was vastly preferable to sleeping on the ground, even she had to admit that she missed many of the simple luxuries that came from indoor habitation.

 

"You will not get any argument from me," she said, "and our plan to remain in this area certainly means we can look into something more permanent, but without a much larger fortune how will we afford to buy a house?"

 

"I wasn't suggesting we _buy_ a house," Tapeesa said, and her earlier tone had returned. "Not exactly."

 

"Then what _were_ you suggesting?" Korra asked, her tone guarded now as she suspected a trap.

 

"Simple, we just---huh?" Tapeesa stopped talking and leaned to the side to look behind Korra, and Korra realized that Asami was calling out to them. Korra looked over her shoulder at where Asami was sitting at one of the library's public computers, trying to wave them over, and her heart rate instantly sped up as she saw the excitement and urgency cast on Asami's expression. It was only with great effort that Korra kept herself from leaping to her feet and dashing over, instead calmly and casually standing up and walking over to Asami's desk to see what had happened.

 

As they had made a point to do ever since they had learned of the sheer breadth of information accesible through the internet, Asami had been searching for anything that could have been helpful to them on their journey. New information on the phenomenon that had brought them to this world, indications that their presence had been noticed and located by the government, and everyday minutiae like weather and traffic predictions. Whether it was in an internet cafe or hotel lobby, or a library like they were currently using, they made a point of frequently checking into information every week or so. Usually it was little more than a _pro forma_ way to spend an afternoon since there had been no new information on how they had arrived in this world (It seemed that the Canadian government and all other nations involved in researching their arrival were still holding tight to whatever information they had), but now Asami had the look of having found something _big_. "What is it?" Korra asked.

 

Without preamble, Asami burst out, "There's been another radiation burst. Just like the one that happened when we arrived in this world."

 

"What?" She managed to keep her voice quiet, but Korra's shock was nevertheless readily apparent.

　

"Two days ago, over the _South_ Pole this time. It set off radiation detectors across the southern hemisphere and it _had_ to be the same thing as what brought us here, there's never been anything else like it before." Asami kept her voice as quiet as Korra did, neither of them wanted to draw any attention to themselves, but it was thrumming with energy anyway. This was the first new information of any sort that they had received on whatever had brought them to this world, there had literally been _nothing_ since the original news articles documenting the first radiation pulse, and that meant it was something they could use.

　

"Is there any more information? Do they know what caused it? Can we use it to get back?" Already Korra's mind was running over all the possibilities that came with this new information.

　

"Not yet. All there are so far are the news articles just like after the first one, no more. There hasn't been any time for a scientific analysis, even if the governments of this world will let anything more be released at all. But it _happened_."

　

"Okay....okay. When did it happen again?" As she spoke Korra sat down at the desk next to Asami and activated the computer there. Though she frequently let Asami perform their research, she had learned to operate the internet herself.

　

"Two days ago," Asami said, "December 21."

　

"What time? What time _exactly_?"  If it had been anybody else except Korra, Asami might have felt insulted at the peremptory tone of the question, but she knew Korra's way of thinking, and she knew Korra was on to something specific.  She was not asking out of idle curiosity, precision counted.

　

"Uh...." Asami had to scroll through a few of the articles before she reached the precision Korra was looking for. "7:03 at night."

　

"And when was the first radiation burst?" Korra was already typing herself as she asked the question, bringing up her own searches as Asami scrolled through the information she already had up.

　

"Six months ago...." Asami's voice caught as she recognized the implications. " _Exactly_ six months ago, to the day. June 21 at....4:51 in the morning....no, wait, that's the wrong time zone for this reference....okay, 6:51 in the morning."

　

"6:51 in the morning for summer, 7:03 at night in winter...." Korra looked up from the her own computer monitor and her voice held so much emotion that it actually sounded flat. "The solstice. Asami, _it's the solstice_. During the solstices the natural world and spirit world grow so close that the line between them blurs. Spirts--and even people--can travel between the worlds even without the portals and...and....and we opened that third portal in Republic City, a new connection between the mortal world and the spirit world that weakened the barrier even more, and when the solstice came...."

 

She trailed off and Asami picked up the trail as if she had been picking the information out of Korra's mind. "That timing sounds impossible, the odds of us going through the Northern Spirit Portal at the exact right time are _tiny_ , but if it did all come together at once.....the borders between the worlds would have been so thin that we came through here. At this North Pole, connected to the Northern Spirit Portal, for just as long as the solstice lasted."

 

They were both silent for a moment, processing what they had just learned and all of the opportunities that it offered. Then, together, they both grinned.

 

"Six months," Korra said, "Six months until the next solstice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we finally get some answers.


	123. Chapter 123

As the printed-out news reports and astronomy pages threatened to overload the library's table, Judith felt her gaze pulled in a dozen different directions as Korra and Asami pored over the information. They were speaking so rapidly that they kept falling back into their own language seemingly unknowingly, and she could follow barely anything of what they were saying. "Slow down," she pleaded, "and start from the beginning. You found a way home?" The question was so small, yet also so surprisingly huge. None of them had expected anything like this when they had awoken this morning, their plans had included a few hours at the library to read, relax and perform their desultory internet searches. After so long with no information at all, not even the hint that there might be something changing, to suddenly have this bombshell out of the blue was startling. Not to mention....

　

"Yes!" Korra practically shouted, and looked instantly contrite as a lot of the heads around them turned at the outburst. "I mean...I think so. Possibly. We do not have all the details, but if we're right, 我們知道是什麼把我們帶到這裡!" She did not even seem to realize that she had stopped speaking English, and it was only after she saw the blank incomprehension on Judith and Tapeesa's faces that she said, "We know what brought us here!" Judith had not seen them this excited since those very first days up at Station Alert more than a lifetime ago, where they had been fascinated and confused by everything they encountered.

　

"There was a second radiation burst," Asami explained, "identical to what happened when we crossed over to this world six months ago, but over the South Pole. We do not have any more information about this event than we do about the first one, all we can access are news reports that simply state that it _happened_ , but the timing is all the information we needed right now. They were six months apart to the day, and Korra realized the connection; they happened during the summer and winter solstices." While Asami spoke, Korra held up one of the sheets that were scattered across the table, this one an astronomical calendar. " _Exactly_ during the solstices, right as the sun was at its most highest....relative to..." Asami seemed to run out of the specialized scientific terminology she was trying to use, and she shook her head like she was trying to shake loose the vocabulary she did not have before she plowed forward. "...it happened to the minute. _Right_ at each solstice!"

 

Judith looked at Tapeesa in confusion and felt marginally better that the explanation apparently did not mean anything more to her. After a beat, Tapeesa had to prompt them to continue. "And the solstices mean..."

 

Now it was Korra and Asami's turn to look briefly confused, before Korra seemed to remember that they did not have the same history of exposure in their world. "In our world, the barrier between the mortal world and the spiritual world is not steady. It changes with location and the seasons, and _especially_ with the solstice. As the solstice approaches the barrier thins until it disappears almost completely, and at the moment of the solstice the two worlds are so close together they are nearly one. We must have stepped into the Northern Spirit Portal at the _exact_ moment of the solstice, when the barrier between worlds was at its weakest. When the barrier was _so_ weak that the portal did not just breach the barrier to our mortal world, but even the barrier to _this_ world as well."

 

At a nod from Korra after she finished the explanation of the connection between the worlds, Asami continued. "The radiation your technology detected must have been the energy of the spirit portal. In our world there had been developments with using spirit energy to produce electricity and power mechanical devices, but even the most powerful of those devices were nowhere close to matching the spiritual energy found in the portals themselves." A crooked smile spread across her lips, showcasing mixed horror and pride at some memory. "In fact, the only time a device was ever hooked up to that much spiritual energy it overloaded the device and exploded. It was so powerful that if there had not been....intervention....the damage might have been unbelievable, and only its direction into the creation of a _new_ spirit portal kept it from being as bad as it could have been. That is why the radiation is so powerful and detected from so far away; for as long as the solstice lasts your world is exposed to all the energy of a spirit portal."

 

Judith and Tapeesa were both silent as they considered what they had just been told about the connections between worlds, not to mention the (Obvious) implication that Korra and Asami had been involved in whatever disaster Asami had just mentioned. "So, what does this mean?" Judith finally asked.

 

"It means we know when and where there will be a connection between this world and the spirit world," Korra said, again needing to struggle to keep from shouting in her excitement. "In six months, during the summer solstice, the spirit portal will reappear at your North Pole. It will take us _home_." She positively _beamed_ as she spoke, and Asami was grinning right next her.

 

"Wait a second, does this mean somebody else from your world came through to the south pole a few days ago?"  Tapeesa's question seemed to catch both Korra and Asami off guard, and their smiles briefly dimmed as they considered.

 

"I doubt it," Asami said, "The chances of somebody going through the Southern Spirit portal right at the exact moment of the solstice are very small.  Especially after it already happened with us, I cannot imagine the timing came together so perfectly two solstices in a row."  She sounded almost unsure, not a tone they were used to hearing from Asami; as if she was trying to convince herself.

 

"But if it  _did,_ they have already been trapped at the south pole for two days."  Korra's voice was unmistakably grave as she realized the implications, "They might already be frozen from the weather, and if they are not they must be starving.  We need to do something."  She looked ready to leap up and charge to the rescue right then, never mind the distance to the south pole or all the obstacles in their way. _  
_

 

Judith held up a placating hand to stem Korra's mad rush, gesturing her back down into her seat.  "Hold on, if somebody did come through they're probably okay, there's a United States research station operating on the pole that would have investigated right away.  They'll have rescued them off the ice just like our operation saved you two."  There was only the tiniest hint of pain as she spoke about her old life, just a faint legacy of all that had happened.  "They were probably picked up even sooner since the station's already there, if anybody did come through they're likely drinking hot chocolate at Amundsen-Scott right now." Korra's look of urgency abated and she relaxed at Judith's words, the excitement and hope from before regaining hold.

 

"So, what's the plan then?" Tapeesa asked, "What does this change?"

 

"Short term, I don't think it changes anything at all.  Unless we want to break into a military base or something I don't see how we can get any more info on the actual research people've done on these events," Judith cast a quick glance at Korra and Asami to make sure they  _weren't_ considering a military break-in and was relieved to see them both nod, "so we stick the plan we already had.  We keep a low profile, don't attract attention, and wait out the winter."

 

"And then," Asami said, "we go  _home_."  Her and Korra had matching smiles plastered on their faces, and after a few breaths Judith joined them.  Looking back and forth between them, Tapeesa took a few moments longer and then she joined in, grinning widely.

 

Her smile did not _quite_ reach her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that this chapter is largely a redelivery of the info from the last chapter, but I felt it important that we see it from the perspective of those who don't already know about solstices and spirit world shenanigans and also to directly lay out a few things.
> 
> It was very important to me ( **Very** important) that it be Korra who made the connection between the radiation burst timing and the summer/winter solstices. For the same reason that I wanted to have Asami be the one entered into the pit fights several chapters back; neither of these women is only one thing. A lot of fan works cast Asami as "the smart one" and Korra as "the strong one", and unfortunately that's sometimes exaggerated to the point where that also means that Asami is pathetically weak and Korra is a moron. Though Asami certainly is smart and Korra certainly is strong, that's not all either of them is, and there's plenty of examples from the series of Asami succeeding through force of arms and Korra thinking her way out of a problem. In the pit fights, Asami got them all money for food and travel because she is a competent, well-trained, experienced hand-to-hand combatant, and here Korra made the connections to the timing because she is experienced and immersed in spiritual matters and how they relate to astrological phenomenon for her entire life (Even if, admittedly, she wasn't the best student as a kid).
> 
> They've each got their strengths, and I wanted to make sure they all show through.
> 
> Also, I specifically wanted Asami to run out of vocabulary during the explanation of the solstices because she's only been studying English for a few moths now, and only been using it conversationally for even shorter, and I don't care if you are Asami @#$%ing Sato, phrases like "highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere" is not something you're going to pick up in everyday conversation.


	124. Chapter 124

Lying on the beach, taking in the sight of the vast ocean expanse that spread out before them under the dark night sky, Asami relished the warmth that Korra gave off as they lay together. Normally they would have already made camp this late into the evening, as even with Korra's ability to create both shelter and light it was difficult to arrange everything in the blackness of night, but the realizations of earlier in the day meant they were still too excited, too energized, to make a conscious decision to _stop_ for the day. Hope that they could get home, fear that they might not be able to, furious planning and deliberate pausing all jumbled together after a few hours into a mash of aimless motion. So, instead of unrolling their sleeping mats, the four of them found themselves lying on one of the beaches that stretched all along the coastline, listening to the soothing sounds of the waves and soaking in the ocean's tranquility.

 

The air had turned distinctly cool as the sun dipped below the horizon, and combined with the ocean's wind it was just on the far side of being comfortable for Asami, but to Korra it was apparently as warm as a spring day, as she had not redonned the warmer clothing their group had shed when they reached this comfortable territory. Now, with Korra's bare arms wrapped around Asami's shoulders and holding her tight against her chest, ensconcing Asami in a shelter from the wind that simultaneously enveloped her in soft warmth, Asami reflected on the perks that came with having a girlfriend from the Southern Water Tribe. Grinning, she shifted position to settle herself more firmly into Korra's cradle to let her head rest against Korra's chest, then contentedly wrapped herself around one of Korra's arms.

 

"Should we even bother taking out our blankets, or are you just going to sleep right here?" Korra asked as Asami sank into her.

 

"What would we need blankets for?" Asami asked, letting her eyes fall closed, "I'm perfectly comfortable, I've got the softest pillow right here."

 

"I know you do, but what about me? You're all warm and comfy, leaving me exposed to this truly blistering cold wind." To seemingly underscore just how little the cold bothered her, at that moment there was a gust that caused Asami to briefly shiver despite her protection, whereas Korra did not even seem to react at all. "See! Just like that!"

 

"Well, then, if you're _truly_ at the mercy of the elements like that, I suppose I'll have to find some way to share my protection with you." Asami's tone had turned heated, "I wonder, how shall I extend this sublime warmth?"

 

"I'm sure we could figure something out," Korra's voice warmed in response, "we just need to....eh?" She broke off in the middle of her sentence when she realized that she and Asami had been called from where Tapeesa and Joo Dee lay together slightly further up the beach.  They had been talking between themselves since arriving at this shoreline, quietly murmuring into each other's ears ever since their group discussion had broken apart at the library earlier in the day.  "What was that?" She called out to them.

 

Shifting a little bit closer, so they could be easily heard over the sound of the waves without needing shout, Tapeesa repeated the request that had been drowned out a moment ago. "Tell us a story from your world," she asked.

 

"A story?" Asami asked, glancing up at Korra. "What did you want to know? Do you have a question about our world"

 

"No, not a specific question," Joo Dee said, "but...tell us a _story_. You've given us a lot of facts, but what tales do you tell your children? How do you pass on morals and lessons? What kind of entertainment do you have?"

 

Asami glanced up at Korra again, brow slightly wrinkled in confusion. They had explained much of their world to Joo Dee and Tapeesa; the relations of the Spirit World and Mortal World, history of the Four (Now Five) Nations, and many other subjects besides, but they had never tried to tell a story. What stories were there that did not connect to their history, anyway? She was about to ask for more of an explanation, to see what it was that Joo Dee and Tapeesa truly wanted, when she noticed how furtive their gaze was. Not just their gaze, but their posture was minutely slumped, and she realized that whatever they wanted, it was not just aimless entertainment. So, drawing herself upright, Asami began to speak.

　

"When I was young, before my mother died, there was one tale that she would tell me more than any other. It was an old story from the Earth Kingdom that her father had told her when she was young, and some people said it had once been true, but my mother never believed that. It was just....the story went that a long time ago there had been a young girl, the daughter of a noble, who was training to be a huntress. One day, when she was out learning to track game, she saw a 福克斯羚羊." Asami halted as she realized that she did not know how to name a Fox-antelope in English, then she explained. "You do not have the proper word in your language, it is an animal that is hunted for food and fur. The huntress tracked the animal with her hunting party, but it escaped them by fleeing into a ravine that they could not follow it into. An animal which can escape a hunt is regarded as a very special animal, especially when the hunters include many experienced trackers and the young noble, who was regarded as one of the finest huntresses in the land. So, even though it had escaped, the young girl would frequently return to the ravine and seek a way into the hidden spots so that she could track it down. Not to harm it, for it had earned the right to live with its escape, but so that she could learn its secret. One day, almost as though it was magic, she found a pathway into the ravine that she had never seen before, even though she had searched through that area many times before. The pathway led down to a palace that sat at the bottom of the ravine, and the palace was more grand than even the home where the girl's noble father lived. Nowhere along the path did the young huntress see any sign of the animal, or any animal at all, it was as though no animal had ever been down in the ravine. What she _did_ find, however, were _human_ footprints leading up to the palace, and at the doorway there stood a woman."

　

Asami paused again, this time in fond remembrance of all the times her mother had told her this story, and when she continued her voice was slightly husky. "She was a beautiful woman, a princess wearing a fine gown and many jewels, but she was also very sad. The huntress asked her if she had seen the animal and the princess said that yes, she had, because _she_ was the animal. She had been cursed by a spirit to be trapped in this palace forever, never able to leave except in the form of an animal, and every time she left the ravine she was chased and hunted by humans and other animals.  It was the Mother of Faces that had cursed her, and the princess had let the young huntress find the entrance to the ravine because she was tired of the palace, and also tired of being hunted out in the wilds; she wanted it all to end. She would leave one last time in the form of the animal and allow the huntress to kill her to release her from the curse."

　

"Wa---what did the huntress do?" Joo Dee was visibly trying to keep any emotion from her face or voice, but her speech had shuddered anyway and Asami smiled as she finished.

 

"I'm sure that in the original version of the story the huntress probably did kill the princess, and there was certainly some horrible moral included in there that does not make sense anymore, but that is not what my mother told me. She told me that the huntress knew it would be a horrible crime to kill the princess, even though she was so sad, because her father had always taught her that it was more important to fix a problem than throw it away. So, she decided to stay with the princess, who was all alone, so that she could have a friend and be happy. And when the princess left in the form of the animal the huntress went with her in the form of an 犰狳獅--a very fierce animal--to protect her and keep her from being hunted, so that she could have freedom as well. And together, the curse was broken." When she finished, Asami's voice was nearly a whisper under the weight of memory.

 

"That was your favorite story?" Tapeesa asked.

 

"Yes," Asami said, still husky with the thought of her mother's voice. "I always imagined it was me in the story."

 

"Were you the princess waiting to be rescued?" Joo Dee asked, "Trapped by your parent's wealth and society?" Asami could detect mixed sympathy and brusqueness at the question.

 

"What? No, I never felt as a prisoner, not like that." There were still many issues that Asami had with her father, many actions he had taken as an Equalist that she still could not accept even after their reconciliation, but as a child she had never once doubted the love of either of her parents and they had never tried to bind her life. "I saw myself as the huntress. My mother and...my parents had taught me that a problem needs to be fixed, not swept aside, and especially not with a solution that is worse than the problem itself. I wanted to be able to help, even if it was just by giving somebody my company so that they would not be alone, and even if it meant fighting to protect them."

 

"It turns out **I** was the princess," Korra suddenly interjected, and she laughed as Asami's eyes widened in response to the realization. "Are you saying you did not make this connection?"

 

"No, I....I never thought to.....oh my goodness _you are the princess_!" The shock on Asami's face was plainly apparent as she parsed out the commonalities between their stories. "I have never imagined it like that."

 

"I am just glad I have a 犰狳獅 to protect me if I need it," Korra teased, and she laughed again as Asami gently nocked against her side.

 

Dragging her eyes back to Joo Dee and Tapeesa, doing her best to ignore Korra's laughter, Asami asked, "Why did you want to hear a story from our world?"

 

"After today we now know that there is a way for you to get home, it's not just a theory we're kicking around, and it's not even that far away. Six months really isn't that long all told. And us...we've been thinking about...." Joo Dee broke off in confusion.

 

"We just....we want to understand your world more than just the names and abstract philosophy and politics," Tapeesa said, her voice laden with just the smallest hint of desperation. "What's it like to _live_ there? Because.... _we're_ going to have to live there, too, aren't we? We don't have much of a choice now, not after everything that's happened, we can't stay here unless we want to stay underground for the rest of our lives."

 

"You've given us a lot of info already," Joo Dee picked up where Tapeesa left off, "but I still have trouble imaging your world as a real place. A place with people just like us, a place to _live_ , and if we're going to go back with you we need to be able to make that connection. Otherwise we'll be just as lost there as we are now."

 

Glancing back and forther between themselves, Korra leaned forward. "What do you want to know?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story of the huntress and the princess is taken almost whole cloth from Malinda Lo's _Ash_ , wherein it is related as a fairy tale. I have, of course, made a few changes to fit this story and universe, but it's pretty much a direct lift except for the ending. I recommend taking a look, it's an interesting take on the (Remarkably widespread now that I think about it) reinterpretation of the classic Cinderella mythos.


	125. Chapter 125

With an exhilarated shout, Korra dove headfirst into the breaking wave and disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean, surfacing a few seconds later even further from the beach and churning the water as she swam. The crests were relatively low, gentle rockings of the surface instead of violent thrashings, but they still bobbed up and down against her, and from the shore Asami marveled at how easily Korra moved through them. Whether it came from her ability to control the element that surrounded her, or because she had been raised on the ice and sea of the South Pole, she slid as smoothly through the waves as if she was gliding across a level plane. Lying on the warm sand, Asami let her gaze slowly track along the vast blue expanse, following Korra's path through the water as she completely broke away from the the earth and submerged into the water.

 

It was at times like this, almost even more than when she saw her wielding the power of the Avatar State, that Asami felt the raw energy of Korra, the strength and surety of her limbs and motion.  As far as Asami could tell she was not using her bending to control the water, but despite being in the grip of the ocean she was still moving completely of her own volition.  The tides would push and pull at her, but despite their power Korra barely even seemed to notice, her arms and legs rising and falling in the same steady, smooth motions.  Yet, as with water itself, her motions were soft, almost tender; she was not striking or trying to break the water, but pulling herself through it, sharing space together.  The sight of her swimming, sometimes vanishing out of sight completely before resurfacing and occasionally breaching the surface to leap into the air like an elephant-koi, was a complete encapsulation of Korra's being, and Asami felt herself begin to lose herself in the image.  To lose herself to the sight of Korra  _being_.

 

She did not know how long she would have stayed like that, lying motionless on the beach, only turning her head to track Korra's motion, if she had not suddenly been awakened by a soft  _thunk_ and the sight of a white ball rolling across her field of vision, stopping almost directly in front of her and within and handbreadth of her outstretched legs.  Almost before she could react to its presence there came a shout of "Sorry!" from behind her, and then a young man came running up in the ball's wake.  "Sorry about that, it got away from me, sometimes Carlo doesn't know when to hold back on a serve."  He gestured idly back over his shoulder, and Asami saw a small grouping of people clustered around a net that hung suspended above the sand.  She had noticed them before, playing a game that looked remarkably similar to Kuai ball, but had given them no particular thought.  Particularly since--and she eyeballed the man in front of her as she had the thought--they were far enough away that the chances of any 'accidental' overshot reaching her were quite remote.

 

"It is no problem," she said, "Your friend Carlo must have prodigious strength to have accidentally sent the ball this far away."

 

He might have colored slightly at the remark--with the bright sun Asami could not have been sure of that--but then shrugged his shoulders and laughed.  "Yeah, he must, but don't tell him that or it'll go right to his head."  Grinning, he picked up the ball, then tucked it under one elbow as he stuck out his arm.  "I'm Mark."

 

"Asami," she replied, shaking firmly.  There came distant shouts from back where Mark had come from, and Asami leaned to the side to look past him and saw his group of friends waving and gesturing at him.  "I believe your friends are waiting for the return of their ball.  I am sure they do not want to hold the game up."

 

"That's no call for them to be rude, they can wait a few seconds."  Mark turned around and made some sort of gesture in return which Asami could not see, then he turned back to Asami and tried to keep up the same smile.  "Hey, we're at uneven teams right now, we could use another player.  Care to join us?"  When she did not instantly say anything he quickly followed up with "We're gonna set up for a barbecue in a bit, too.  All the hot dogs you can eat."

 

The lure of hot dogs was actually quite strong, and Asami had always enjoyed playing Kuai ball when she was younger, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Korra out in the water, now almost just a dot on the ocean.  "No, thank you, I am going to go swimming."

 

"Oh, cool."  His grin faltered and for a brief second his expression transparently reflected his attempt to think up something else to say, but when nothing came to him he just nodded and said "Have fun out there," then turned and ran back to his game.  Keeping watch out of the corner of her eye, Asami felt the corners of her lips try to upturn when she noticed how he did not attempt to throw the ball back to the other players until he was more than halfway back.  Then, once Mark was absorbed back into that game they were playing--Asami made a mental note to ask Joo Dee or Tapeesa about it later, as it did look fun--she turned back to the sea and caught sight of Korra again.

 

Rising from the blanket on which she lay and shaking off the wrap she wore around her legs, Asami strolled down the water's edge and paused to let the edge of the tide wash around her ankles.  Cold--but only cold enough to energize--she took the time to prepare herself, then leapt into the ocean with an exhilarated shout.

 

Korra was out there waiting for her.

 

* * *

  

"Huh.  Well, that was something."  Judith's tone was light as she watched Asami dive into the water, then turned to watch the volleyball game that had resumed.  "I haven't seen somebody go fishing like that for a long time."

 

"Hmmm?"  Tapeesa's sound was more of an inarticulate noise than an actual question, barely forced out of the sun-laden mind that could only just be called conscious, but the interrogative was clear.

 

"Oh, 'fishing', it's when...nevermind, it's not important."  Judith brushed aside the thought, but Tapeesa had already been roused and she sat up, shaking the sleep from her mind as she looked around.  Seeing the volleyball game, she eyed the players and quirked an eyebrow at Judith.  "Fishing, eh?" she said, "Well, they are pretty cute.  I'm sure they wouldn't say 'no' if I asked to join their game."

 

Judith could not completely smother the grin which came up, but she gave it a valiant try.  "Watch it," she said, "You're gonna make me jealous."

 

"Ha!"  Moving past the volleyball game, Tapeesa looked around the rest of the beach and noticed the empty blanket where Korra and Asami had been sitting.  "Hey, where'd Korra go?"

 

"Huh?  Oh, she hopped into the water, Asami followed her in a few minutes ago.  They're ooooouuuut..." She stretched out the last syllable while she scanned the water for signs, then pointed, "there."  The two women were barely-distinguishable shapes in the distance, far enough out that Judith would have been concerned about them getting back to shore if it had been anybody else, and it took Tapeesa a few seconds to track along Judith's arm and pick them out.  Once she did she nodded and lay back down, mumbling out "Okay, let me know if anything happens," as she obviously attempted to regain her lost sleep.

 

"Hold it, don't think you can abandon me that easily," Judith snapped, and reached out to flick her nose.  "You've already had your nap!"

 

Spluttering, Tapeesa swiped at the hand, but Judith had already drawn back enough that Tapeesa only wound up smacking herself in the face before she rocketed upright.  She glared at Judith, but only got soft chuckles in response and quickly gave up on her glare.  "Fine, I'm up, now what?"

 

Judith let her chuckles wind down naturally, then abruptly asked, "What was your idea?"

 

"Idea?"  Tapeesa stopped to consider, but had to shrug in confusion.  "What idea?  This was pretty much all I had in mind for today, I don't really know a better way to celebrate Christmas when there's no family around and we're on the run."

 

"Not today," Judith corrected, deliberately and pointedly not taking any notice of the way Tapeesa's voice had broken on the word 'family'.  Despite how quickly they had decided that they needed to follow Korra and Asami back to their world, Judith knew there was a whole layer of conflict that Tapeesa was not ready to confront yet.  The idea of never seeing her family again, all the friends she had collected over her life, even just the minutiae of her house back in Squamish, had suddenly loomed large when they realized there was an end-date to their adventures.  "At the library a few days ago--before we got all distracted--you said you had an idea about our living arrangements.  Something about staying in an actual house for the winter, with walls and lights and plumbing and everything?"

 

"Oh,  _right_.  That!"  She popped up with sudden energy and an excitable gleam in her eye.  "I was thinking, down here in Florida,  _particularly_ along the ocean, a lot of places aren't lived in year-round.  People who can afford property like this can afford to fly back and forth in the winter and summer, leaving these places open for six months.  They're furnished, located on prime real-estate, and unoccupied.  Unoccupied and...waiting, shall we say."  The tone that Korra had noticed when Tapeesa first mentioned having an idea was back in full force, and Judith had much more experience to recognize all that it implied, so even though Tapeesa did not  _quite_ wink obtrusively the effect was there regardless.

 

"Wait, you want us to break into somebody's home?"  Judith did not know quite what she expected Tapeesa to say her idea had been, but it certainly had not been that.

 

"No!  Well....okay, actually, yes, but they'll be  _empty_ homes, so we won't bother anybody who actually lives there, and with Korra and Asami and their magic fingers we can get in without breaking anything."  Now Tapeesa sounded almost contrite.  "We can even leave some money behind when we're done to cover whatever electricity we use.  We get a solid roof over our heads and a place to keep our stuff, not to mention a reliable bathroom, and they get a house sitter at no charge.  If we clean up after ourselves and don't order too much Pay-Per-View, what's the harm?"

 

"First off, most people who  _want_ a house sitter have set it up themselves already, so I'm not sure we should count on their gratitude when all is said and done.  And secondly, most of the snowbirds who go back and forth in the summer and winter are  _here_ for the winter.  That's kinda the point."

 

"True, very true, most of the 'birds are down here about now.   _Except_ for the ones whose properties are being refurbished."  Judith marveled at the way Tapeesa could switch back and forth between moods so rapidly, as now she was preening like a magician who had just pulled a card out of the air.  "If you've shelled out god-knows-how-much money for an apartment on the beach then you're not going to want to suffer through torn-up carpet, jackhammers all day and whatever else there is while they re-do their hallways or put new tile in the lobby.  They'll stay up north in their functional houses for the winter, or get a hotel down here, leaving their still-very-nice condos pleasantly available."

 

"Yeah, but..."  Judith's next objection died unspoken as she stopped to consider and realized the possibilities.

 

"Think about it," Tapeesa prodded.  "If we pick an apartment complex then the buildings are still open, so there'll be plenty of people still living there and coming in and out as camouflage, and with whatever construction and moving is going on nobody will think twice about four young women they don't recognize who must have moved into the building recently.  All we do is get in once without being caught and we're set for months."

 

"Where were you thinking about trying this?" Judith asked, tacitly accepting that it was an idea she was willing to explore.

 

Without speaking, Tapeesa pointed beside them to where numerous high-rise buildings stretched along the beach and and looked out over the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is chapter 125 a milestone? I know 25 is (And so are 50 & 75), but once you've passed 100 do you still count the increments? Ah, who cares, I'm gonna celebrate anyway: Happy 125 chapters!
> 
> As ever, thanks for tagging along with me, I hope you're enjoying the story.
> 
> Just as a heads up, and for a little bit of a tease to you faithful readers, we're going to get a story shift soon. Probably about ten chapters or so from now, maybe a few more, maybe a few less. Nothing major, I'm not promising anything MAJOR, just.....know that it's coming.


	126. Chapter 126

Standing in the middle of the apartment that would be their home for the next few months, Korra looked around and shrugged her shoulders at Asami.  "Well...that was easy."

 

Gaining entrance to the facility had been surprisingly without difficulty.  There were a dozen high-rise buildings along the coastline they examined; some were apparently hotels, others apartment buildings, and others still more complicated arrangements of ownership.  It was easy to see that this region was a particularly opulent living space, home to those who had or knew money, and there were security devices and arrangements at all of them which would need to be circumscribed, and after surveying all the buildings Tapeesa had suggested they aim for the smallest, least-glamorous building there was.  It was square and blockish, shorter than most of the other buildings on the beach, and instead of having a living person stationed at the entrance from the beach to check the identity of everybody trying to enter the building it relied on an automatic system that seemed to register their keys.  However, it was still  ** _on_** the beach, and it looked to be luxurious despite not being  _as_ luxurious as the surroundings, which would give them a pleasant place to stay with the easiest access.  Additionally, the lot immediately to the north of this building seemed to be the home of a construction site for a new building, which would spoil the view of the people living on that side of the building and likely contribute to somebody choosing to live elsewhere if they could afford it.  With all of that combined, it offered them a single building that would likely be easy to enter and probably have an unoccupied apartment they could stay in for the winter.

 

Tapeesa had dressed the four of them so as to convey the impression that they were returning to their living space after time spent on the beach (Including spending money on purchasing brightly-colored towels and folding chairs for Korra and Asami to carry) and they had walked towards the gated entrance to the complex  _just_ as a family was leaving.  With Joo Dee in the lead, making a show of over-exaggerating how difficult it was for her to walk while Tapeesa dug around in her bag apparently looking for her keys, the father had courteously held the door open for them and passed them all into the stairwell.  After their murmured thanks they had climbed up to the pool deck and made a few noncommittal waves and nods to the tenants in that area, who seemed to subconsciously accept them because they were already past the outer gate, then repeated the process to enter the building itself by following in a woman who was courteous enough to hold the door open.  After that they had ridden the elevator to a random floor, traced the hallway to the north side, and walked slowly (But not  _too_ slowly) down the hallway while Korra checked for unoccupied apartments.  Having found an empty set of rooms, and holding their car keys in her hand in case anybody was observing them, Korra stepped up to the door and used her metalbending to open the lock.

 

They had never been challenged or questioned, nor even looked at askance, and in a bare few minutes from standing on the beach they found themselves in the center of their new furnished abode.

 

"Things had to go smoothly for us sooner or later," Asami said, "not everything can end up in a high-speed pursuit."

 

"All past indicators to the contrary," Korra chimed in, pulling a laugh from Asami.  "True," Asami finished, "But Tapeesa really knew how to sneak us in,"

 

"Fair enough," Korra conceded, then she continued in a more subdued voice as a thought struck her.  "But how  _did_ she know how to get in here so smoothly?  I never would have pegged her for the criminal mastermind type, but this doesn't seem like her first time."

 

“I don’t know, I guess she just…hmmm…” Asami felt herself draw to a stop as she realized that she could not explain Tapeesa’s apparent expertise and familiarity with sneaking into guarded private residences.  "Maybe we should ask her?"

 

* * *

 

 

"Okay, 'Saw, I need the full story."  Judith was examining the small condo for indications on whether or not this was a short-term absence by the owners (All indicators pointed to them being away for a lengthy period; no perishables in the kitchen, the clocks and lights had been unplugged, and picking up the phone gave no dial-tone to indicate active service) and she called over her shoulder to Tapeesa, who was checking to make sure that there had been no alarm set up.  "How the heck did you get us in here so easily?"

 

"It's one of the very first things Michael Westen taught the audience on  _Burn Notice_ \--If you make yourself look like you belong and don't draw attention to yourself, you can get in  _anywhere_."  Looking up from the door, she grinned and added, "No alarm system."

 

"Nope, I'm not buying it," Judith retorted, "I said the  _full_ story.  You don't become able to gauge how easy it would be to break into a home and live there because you watched a TV show.  You especially don't get _used_ to those activities watching TV, and this clearly wasn't your first time."  Judith would have been willing to drop the issue if the story seemed to come from a period of Tapeesa's life she did not want to relive--Judith had many portions of her own history she would have preferred not to dredge up--but she could see the heat rising in Tapeesa's face and a grin trying to force its way onto her expression.  "Come on, give."

 

"No, really, it's...it's nothing."  Tapeesa did not look haunted or regretful of whatever gave her this expertise, she looked embarrassed, and also as if she not-so-secretly wanted Judith to draw it out of her.  "Just some....it's nothing."  Judith did to say anything this time, just stared at her with a crooked eye, until Tapeesa flushed darker and looked away.  "Okay, fine, but it's not....look, back in college me and my boyfriend Scotty, we were part of a group....just us and a few other couples and we.....we'd do stuff like this."  On Judith's confused expression, she hurriedly continued.  "On weekends and holidays we'd sneak in with the crowds at the Westin Harbour Castle, or onto the roof of the Koerner Hall.  Places with a cover charge or an exclusive guest-list.  Sometimes we'd get into somebody's apartment while they were having a party.  We never  _broke in_ or took anything, we just...learned the tricks.  And to just  _be_ in there, with nobody knowing we weren't supposed to be there, sometimes nobody knowing we were there at all...if we were behind the ballroom at the Windsor we'd bring something to eat with us and it made fast-food takeout  _amazing_ just because we were  _there_.  This one time, when Mary and Tom couldn't make it, me and Scotty...uh...nevermind that time."  If possible she flushed even darker at that memory than she had been at the story before.  "It gave us  _such_ a thrill back then, and all the old tricks still work.  Especially since now we're sneaking in a bunch of hot women in bathing suits instead of half a dozen college kids, which made today a whole lot easier."

 

Judith was staring at Tapeesa in something almost like shock and had to clarify, "You used to sneak into places and trespass for kicks?"

 

"Yeah, but...come on, I was in college."  Tapeesa sounded defensive now, "We were just dumb kids trying to rebel without actually doing anything rebellious, and it gave us an excuse to dress up nice when we were sneaking into a high-class event.  I'd wear my prom dress and get dolled up and spend the evening talking to the audience at a piano recital pretending I knew the classical background."

 

"You used to  _dress up_ and trespass for kicks?"  Judith's shock was still readily apparent, but Tapeesa could see humor and enjoyment fighting for supremacy.  "When did you become such a thrill seeker and spy?  Were you James Bond back in college?"

 

Tapeesa laughed and shook hear head.  "No, just...just looking for a little excitement, something to do besides watching everybody else freak out over their grades and drink themselves stupid every weekend."

 

"So, what happened?  How did you cap off your thrilling adventures?  Did your group get caught, or did you have one last all-out sneaking event at graduation?"

 

"Neither, sadly, we just sort of petered out.  Scotty actually had to withdraw at the end of our junior year because his little brother got sick and he needed to go home, and the gang as a whole drifted apart in our senior year when everybody started looking for a job or at graduate school."  Tapeesa's expression had gone wistful with the same remembered fondness that came to everybody reminiscing about their adventures in their youth.  "I still keep in touch with most of them on-line, Tom actually lives in Vancouver so we get together every once in a while--at least we did before...y'know, _this_ \--but I think we all left our thrill-seeking-Bond-adventures behind in college."

 

"At least until  _now..._ " Judith slyly remarked, and did her best to saunter over to where Tapeesa was standing.  "I had no idea I was getting a sneaky mastermind when I looked you up again."

 

"Yes, well, I suppose you never do lose your edge, and that rush of adrenaline can still do all sorts of wonderful things,"  Tapeesa responded, matching Judith's grin.  "Just think about it, we're not supposed to be here right now.  Not even supposed to be in the building.  The owners could come by at any moment."  She reached out to take hold of Judith.

 

"Who knows what might happen?"  Judith asked, "Who might come  _bursting in_ right this second?"  She began to lean forward towards Tapeesa, her breath coming more quickly.

 

"Exactly, we have no idea, no idea at al-- _what the hell?_ "  Tapeesa twitched as a sudden loud, crackling noise filled the apartment, and she twisted around to see Korra and Asami standing in the living room before a TV filled with static, remote held in Asami's hand.  "What are you doing?" She asked in exasperation.

 

"Checking the connection," Asami explained, "We need to know if this apartment currently has television or internet service so we can plan for the remainder of our time."

 

"Oh, right."  Tapeesa and Judith sheepishly disentangled themselves from one another and turned to face the rest of the apartment.  "Let's get to work."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are now staying in beautiful and sunny Bal Harbour, Florida:
> 
>  
> 
> The observation that the smallest, least-impressive building on the block is nonetheless still _on_ the block comes from a line in the novel _Changes_ of The Dresden Files. If you're in the smallest of the luxury condos on the beach, you're still in a luxury condo on the beach.
> 
> Also, you have no idea (NO idea) how badly I wanted to make Judith's reference to James Bond actually be about _Agent Carter_ , but the show doesn't premiere for another two months after the present time of this story. Let's all just imagine that for a moment, shall we?


	127. Chapter 127

Curling the blankets towards herself to fully ensconce her and Asami in a padded cocoon, Korra practically oozed relaxation as she said "I feel like I slept for three months," and let her head fall onto Asami's shoulder.

 

"If you're  _that_ rested," Asami teased, "then why are you going deeper and deeper into this cave?"

 

"Because that's five more minutes I get to spend curled up next to you, of course."  Korra's voice was filled with such exaggerated sincerity that Asami had to force back a chuckle, and instead just settled for comfortable silence.

 

Korra was right, of course; Asami felt as if she had had her first truly refreshing night's sleep in ages.  Not just the softness of the bed--although that was certainly part of it--but also the comfort and security of being indoors, the luxury of being able to shower and wash before bed.  There were no unexpected gusts of wind to be caught on exposed skin with a sudden chill, or unexplained noises surrounding them.  Being able to bed down in a building, and with the expectation that they could keep returning to the same location for months to come--something that might even be tentatively called 'home'--made so much more of a difference than could be explained by physical comfort alone.

 

After Korra's requested five minutes--and a few more besides--Asami began to slowly extricate herself from Korra's clutching embrace to escape the blanket cave.  The plaintive call of "Hey, where are you going?" followed her out of the shelter.

 

"As much as I'd like to, we can't just spend the entire day in bed," she called over her shoulder as she made her way to the bathroom.  "We've got to get out eventually."

 

"Why?" Came the honest response, and Asami paused mid-step as Korra continued.  "We don't have anywhere to go today--or even tomorrow--and we're not being rushed out for anything.  Why can't we just take today off?"

 

"Because..." For a brief moment Korra thought she might have actually stumped Asami, before she continued, "...because we need to get this apartment ready to live in it for a few more months.  We barely have any food, so we'll need to go shopping, and I want to explore the building as well.  Plus, there's a very nice jogging path that runs along the beach that we were on yesterday, and we didn't get a chance to actually  _use_ it."  Grinning, Asami continued into the bathroom and gently closed the door behind her.

 

"Oh," Korra said, staring after Asami for a few moments before she lay back down.  "Well, that doesn't mean that  _I_ need to get up," and she pulled the blanket back over her head.

 

* * *

 

"Well, one of them's up," Tapeesa said as she heard the shower begin to run in the bathroom.  "They'll probably both be moving within the hour."

 

"Who says it's just one?" Judith asked, "It might be both of them in the shower.  Think about it: The two of us finally having our own room, with the privacy that comes from having two walls between us, it could easily lead to...you know..."  Judith gave her best impression of a suggestive eyebrow wiggle--which came across more like a pair of weird forehead twitches than something truly suggestive--but stopped abruptly when Tapeesa leaned forward and captured her lips with her own.  They held together for only a moment, briefly, but they leaned into each other deeply before Tapeesa broke away.  "Yes, I  _do_ know," she said, then gave a much more convincing eyebrow wiggle of her own.

 

"Uh...yeah, I suppose....I suppose you do..." Judith struggled for words for an instant, then leaned forward herself and reached up with her working arm to pull Tapeesa in close.  Just as briefly, but just as deeply.  "Oh, 'Saw, you don't know how much I.....oh, God..."

 

"I know, Judy.  I know."  Closing her eyes, Tapeesa pressed her forehead against Judith's and held themselves together.  They sat that way together in silence, accompanied only by the sounds of their breathing and the muffled effects of the shower, until Judith pulled away.

 

"We should start to get ready, too," Judith said, "Korra's probably already laid out a dozen plans to get through today."  Grumbling, she leaned over the edge of the bed and felt around for where she had left her leg braces the night before.

 

"Probably," Tapeesa agreed, and kneeled down to pass along the brace which had somehow gotten knocked beneath the bed.  "But don't you want to shower and get dressed before you strap in?"

 

"Right now I am actually just  _hungry_ , so I'm aiming to get over to the kitchen."  As she spoke, Judith began slide herself into the leg braces and lock them closed.  "We can get cleaned up afterwards."  After she finished pulling on the braces she grabbed the edge of the bed frame and leveraged herself into a standing position.  "For now, food is the primary goal."

 

"Works for me, but I'm not sure we have a very bountiful set of options."  Tapeesa eyed Judith to make sure she got herself upright with no problems, then headed into the kitchen.  "I think all we brought in was a few cup-of-soups, we haven't really been in a position to stock a fridge recently.  So there's that, plus that box of cereal that this place's owners left behind when they left."

 

"Cracklin' Oat Bran and soup it is!" Judith happily conceded, "And after this we begin to enjoy our new lives of leisure on the beach."

 

"Deal," Tapeesa agreed.

 

* * *

 

Asami paused at the top of the stairwell leading from the pool level down to the beach and stretched, loosening up and glancing back at the building towering up behind her to shake off the slight feeling of trepidation.  It almost felt strange to be alone, even just for her planned run along the path on the beach, as she and Korra had been together for almost all their waking moments ever since they had left  _Ville de Moores_ on their motorcycle three months ago.  Their constant fear of discovery in Canada, and their continued motion here in the United States, meant that they could never risk long periods of separation.  There was always the chance that one of them might be discovered or lose touch during the absence of the other, and without any means of contacting each other or familiarity with the environment there was always a danger that a brief division could suddenly change into a complete disconnect if something untoward happened.  Now, though, when they had detected no signs of pursuit for hundreds of miles and they had a recognized semi-permanent locale that they could return to, stepping apart for a few hours was unlikely to lead to any serious problems.  They could each pursue their own endeavors without fear, so Korra planned to use this time to for Joo Dee's physical rehabilitation.

 

Still, after so much time together across so much of this world, part of Asami wished that they could have gone for a run together, regardless.

 

Paralleling the ocean, Asami turned right out of the stairwell and began to follow the path south.  She knew it ran for a mile or two in each direction from where they had decided to make their home, so traveling to the end of the trail in one direction and returning to the start would give her the distance for a leisurely jog to get herself moving without being overly exerting.  The opportunity to exercise, for casual movement that was neither driven by urgency nor hemmed in by caution, was refreshing all on its own.  Particularly in a place as beautiful as this; as she ran Asami took in the sights of the buildings that rose up so close to the beach they were almost  _in_ the ocean.  She was still too unfamiliar with this world to consider herself an expert, but even at a casual glance she could see different styles of buildings that seemed to have grown up over decades.

 

"Hey, Asu...uh...Asami!"  The call seemed to come out of nowhere, and Asami almost lost her footing as she spun around in surprise.  It took her a moment to place the waving figure approaching before she recognized him as the man who had approached her on the beach the day before.  What had his name been?  Marcel?  Mike?  Mark?   _Mark_ , that was it.  He was coming up from the trail behind her, and Asami slowed down to a walk to let him approach.  When he got close enough to speak he grinned and asked, "Hey, how's it going?"

 

"Very well, thank you."  Now that he had caught up to her Asami resumed her previous pace.  "I am enjoying this very nice jogging path, I have not had much of an opportunity recently for relaxing exercise like this."

 

"Aye, it's beautiful, that's for sure.  I've been stuck home since spring, so it's great to be back down here."  As he spoke, Asami noticed that Mark was breathing very heavily and had soaked through his shirt, apparently he had been pushing a much more frenetic pace for his own exercise before he caught up to her.  "I just flew in last week, it's so nice to feel the sun again."

 

Reflecting on her and Korra's time trapped at the North Pole, plus all the more recent environmental hardships, Asami never even considered disagreeing.  "Yes, it is very refreshing to be away from the cold weather, we drove down last week as well.  That is one reason it is so nice to be able to run like this."

 

Mark nodded enthusiastically.  "Absolutely," he said, "Just  _being_ on the beach makes everything seem better.  It's so refreshing to be out here in the sun, because it all combines to just make it relaxing to be out here.  It's..uh...it's really great to be on...uh..."  He wound down in the middle of his sentence, apparently regretting the way he seemed to be talking around the same subject in circles, until Asami spoke up and supplied "...the beach?" to finish the sentence.

 

"Exactly!" he exclaimed ecstatically, and nearly sagged in relief when Asami chuckled.  Taking pity on his obvious struggle to find something to say, Asami guided the conversation to a more active topic.  "It looked like you and your friends were having a lot of fun yesterday.  What was that game you were playing?  With the net?"

 

"Yesterday....oh, we were just screwing around with some volleyball.  It's kind of obligatory when you're at the beach.....wait, you've never heard of volleyball?"  His glance was not suspicious at her ignorance, not even close, but Asami could tell he was surprised.

 

"I have played a game which looks very similar, but I am not from around here and am still learning about your land," she explained.  "I only arrived a few months ago."

 

"Ah, I  _thought_ you weren't a local girl.  Your accent kind of gave it away."  He hesitated for an instant, then asked, "Where are you from?"

 

"China," Asami promptly replied.  She and Korra had long since decided that it was the obvious solution to continue with the same cover story they had used while up in Canada in the event that anybody questioned them about their history.  In their research about this world they had learned that there were many different versions of the spoken language that could not be understood by the others, so they could pass away their own language as one of those unintelligible dialects in the event that they ever ran into somebody who tried to put their history to the test.  Plus, they could already read its characters, and there were many other similarities to the world they had left behind.  Provided they were not trapped into some sort of specific verification situation, it should serve as an authentic-seeming backstory for the both of them.  "I came here half a year ago and...and I will be going home in another half-year."  She could barely keep the surge of joy from erupting onto her face at the fact that she could now give an idea when she and Korra  _would_ be returning home.

 

"Cool, well, welcome to America!  If you ever need a local guide let me know, I've been coming down here ever since I was a kid."

 

"Thank you," Asami said, "I will keep that in mind."  Their jogging as they spoke had brought them towards the end of the path, and Asami began to slow.  "I need to head back, and you..."

 

Mark looked like he wanted to find an excuse to keep jogging, but instead he shook his head and said, "No, this is the end for me.  I'm...heh...I'm not sure I could stand another loop."  He was breathing heavily, almost panting, and he began to veer off.  Before he could, he paused and turned back.  "Hey, I'm having a New Year's Eve party on Wednesday night to watch the ball drop.  My parent's are going to be out, so I'm having some friends over.  It'd be a good experience for your first time in America.  Want to come?"

 

* * *

 

 

"Start to push back now.....little bit more....push as hard as you can..."  Leaning into her leg, Korra felt the increased pressure as Joo Dee pushed back against her body at Korra's command.  Slowly, as the pressure increased, Korra was moved back a few inches at a time until Joo Dee's leg was almost completely extended.  "... _good_.  Now, I want you to retract, but go slowly.  Bring your leg back..."  Reversing her grip, pulling on Joo Dee's leg instead of pushing against it, Korra held it extended as Joo Dee curled it back against her chest.  "Now the other one...."

 

They went through the same round of exercises on Joo Dee's other leg, and when they finished Joo Dee fell back against the weight-bench with an exuberant sigh and let her arm and legs dangle free off the sides.  "Oy, this is  _killing_ me."  Next to the bench where she lay, Korra balanced precariously on an inflated rubber ball and smirked.  "Yes, but at least it is easy on me."

 

Joo Dee's giggle was slight, but genuine.  " _Touche_."  With a grunt, Joo Dee slowly sat upright and looked out the windows which made up one wall of the gym.  The gym sat on the same level as the building's recreation deck, which held the pool, and there were a dozen people scattered across its deck.  Tapeesa was among them, lounging on one of the reclining chairs.  "When do I get to go out there, eh?  Now that we actually belong here I'd like to be able to get some use out of those umbrellas."

 

"Soon," Korra assured her, "Just a few more exercises."

 

"Is all this work even necessary anymore?  I feel strong enough to go swimming."  To prove her point, Joo Dee raised her legs a few inches off the ground and held them steady for a few seconds before dropping them back down.  "See, practically back to normal!"

 

"In  _that_ case, let's just go hop in the pool right now," Korra said, "Diving competition into the deep end?"  

 

"You're on," Joo Dee said, and then the two of them began laughing together.

 

"You are doing very well," Korra assured once the laughter had faded away, "and you continue to improve every day.  I cannot say how everything will turn out, but we are not done yet."

 

"I Know, I just..." She looked out the window again, just in time to see Tapeesa rise from her chair and remove her cover-up, then walk over the edge of the pool.  After tentatively feeling the water's temperature she stepped back, then took two quick steps forward and lept into the water.  "...I just wish I could be  _there_."

 

Korra followed the direction of Joo Dee's gaze, and easily caught everything that she had left unsaid.  :"I thought you already were... _there_.  Are you not?"

 

"No, I am.   _We_ are.  It's just....I'm having trouble being there as much as I'd like."  Korra's expression grew puzzled as she failed to completely disentangle the hidden meaning in that sentence, but she nodded regardless as the gist came through.  "Don't worry about it, it's nothing major, we're just....we're just going there together, even if it takes a bit longer."

 

"Ah...oh...okay."  Korra shook her head, possibly in an attempt to shake the words into a form she could understand, then stood up and reached out to give Joo Dee a helping hand up.  "Well, until then we have this brand-new set of lifting machines for us to use and we are going to put them to good use.  So, we are going to do some leg presses, if we can, and then we are going to  _actually_ go 'out there' to enjoy the sun and the water."

 

"You got it boss lady," Joo Dee agreed, and grasped Korra's arm to pull herself up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
> 
>  _Whoof_ what an unexpected delay on this update, sorry for the long gap. One minute I was planning what I was going to do for Korrasami Month, and the next thing I know we're in a different _year_. Nothing particular to cause this, no one event to put the blame on, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that always getting in the way of writing. I don't foresee this kind of jump happening again, but then again I didn't foresee this one, either.
> 
> Is there anybody still sticking around for this story?
> 
> I've got to admit that, despite sounding like the most Kid Hating-est Food possible, when I was a kid Cracklin' Oat Bran was my _favorite_ breakfast cereal. Even more than Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Trix or Frosted Flakes or Cap'n Crunch or Honey Nut Cheerios or ay other super-sugar cereal. Those oats really did it for me.


	128. Chapter 128

After Korra and Asami shut the door behind them as they left, Judith called to Tapeesa from where she lay spread-out on the couch.  "I'm surprised you didn't want to go with them."

 

"What was that?" Tapeesa's muffled shout came from the kitchen, then her head popped past the door as she leaned into the living room.  "Did you say something?"

 

"I said," Judith repeated, "That I'm surprised you didn't want to tag along.  A wild New Year's Eve party at the St. Regis, I'd think you'd want to dive right in and relive the Bond adventures of your youth."

 

Laughing, Tapeesa shook her head and disappeared back into the kitchen, then reemerged a few seconds late carrying a tray of sandwiches.  "I think you missed the most important part of what you just said: The adventures of my  _youth_.  I hope Korra and Asami have fun, but my days of staying up until three in the morning while god-knows-what music tries to deafen me have looong since passed.  I'd say it was right about the time all my friends realized they could stop making themselves sick if they cut down on the number of shots they did every night.  Going to some college kid's party is not very high on my list for celebrating the New Year."  Laying down the tray on the table in front of where Judith lay, Tapeesa dropped into the seat next to her.  "Besides, I'm not sure if I could deal with anybody there asking me if I was Korra's mother who was tagging along with her to a party, I feel old enough as it is with those two.  Now, if we'd been  _sneaking in_ to the party, that might have been a different story..."

 

"So you  _are_ still a secret-agent adrenaline junkie, I knew it!"  Judith aimed a pointer finger as she leveled the accusation, then snatched it back as Tapeesa tried to grab her hand.  "Hey, there's no need to get physical just because you're looking for some excitement."

 

"Watch it, you, or no dinner!" To emphasize her point, Tapeesa reached over and slid the sandwich tray down the table towards herself, then laughed as Judith made a few desperate swings to pick one off the dish.  "Are you going to behave?"

 

"That depends, just what  _are_ we going to be doing tonight?" Judith asked.

 

"Well, I was thinking, we've got two choices.  One: We can wait for the ball to drop by watching whatever New Year's broadcast is on TV this year, probably featuring musicians we've never heard of talking to celebrities we don't care about." Judith's snort was all the feedback Tapeesa needed for that one.  " **Or** , we can put on this complete set of the Cornetto Trilogythat I happened to find earlier today and watch that instead."  Like a magician performing a trick, Tapeesa brought out the DVD case for the complete set as she spoke.

 

"To the Winchester!" Judith shouted in surprised glee.

 

* * *

 

"I think it's this one, but I only saw it from the ocean side before."  Asami indicated the tall building that towered over them on the sidewalk next to the street.  "Mark said his rooms are on the fifth floor."  Walking up the curving driveway that lead to the entrance, they both marveled at how different the same location looked when they were coming at it from opposite sides.  From the beach, the ocean dominated the view as it spread out to the horizon, and the buildings seemed to signal the end of the world where everything  _stopped_ , leaving you with nothing beyond the sand and the water.  From this side it seemed like they were in the middle of a city all around them; the street was wide and heavily trafficked, the sidewalk was artistic and shadowed by planted trees and sophisticated landscaping, and there was a mall across the street that they had stopped at the day before (It was much too expensive for them to  _buy_ anything at, but it was almost a work of art in and of itself).  It was easy to imagine that there were just more buildings behind them instead of the water.  Once they got inside the building the change was almost as startling.

 

The building where they were staying, though certainly nice ( _Very_ nice), was built like a fifteen-story a brick; the building itself was a rectangle and it seemed to be constructed of solid rock.  The lobby and recreation areas had been recently re-done, but the structure itself was functional, not a work of art.   _This_ building, however, seemed to be built almost completely from glass and metal and shining marble, with vast windows in the lobby that made it feel that you were almost still outside.  For just a moment they both stopped and stared, just appreciating the time and effort that went into building a place like this.  Time, effort...and money as well.  The entire city was clearly home to wealth, but compared to several of the other buildings even along the same street, Korra was struck like the difference between her room on Air Temple Island and Asami's luxurious mansion.  For almost all of their time in this world they had been limited in the funds they had access too, and that in turn had limited what they could experience, and now it was easy to see what money could buy in this land.

 

"Excuse me," Asami called to a uniformed person standing just beside the doors, "Can you point me to the elevator?"

 

"Of course, ma'am, it's just down this hallway."  He pointed them in the direction.  "Where are you heading this evening?"

 

"The fifth floor, a friend has invited us to celebrate the New Year."  Taking Korra's hand, Asami began to head the way that had been indicated.  "Have a good evening."

 

"Happy New Year," the guide called after them, then turned back to assist the next couple walking through the door.  Down the hallway and up the elevator, Asami followed the directions Mark had given her and found herself and Korra before what she presumed to be his doorway.  Muffled music could be heard leaking out, plus the combined rumble of dozens of voices all shouting to be heard  _over_ the sound of music.  Knocking, Asami turned to Korra and wondered "How will he hear us with that much noise?"  Mark apparently had some kind of super-hearing, however, as he appeared at the door a few moments later.

 

"Hey, Asami, glad you could make it!"  He leaned forward as if to give her a hug, then stopped halfway and stuck out his hand instead.  "You must be, ah, Korra, right?  Come in, come in!"  Stepping aside, he waved them inside and gestured around.  "We're just getting started."

 

"Thank you for inviting us," Korra said as she entered, and Mark grinned.  "It's my pleasure, believe me.  Let me show you around."

 

Inside, a dozen people were milling about, some drinking and eating or dancing to the music, and many turned towards the newcomers.

 

* * *

 

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Tapeesa said, "but _Hot Fuzz_  is one of the best-written, best filmed and best edited movies in history. There isn't a single wasted line or frame in the entire film; every single bit of dialogue is either set-up for a later development, a reference to an earlier part of the film, a standalone joke, character development, or **something**. There isn't a single line that you could cut out without somehow taking away from the greater whole. I honestly cannot think of a single other movie that is as tightly put together as _Hot Fuzz_ is."

 

"'Saw," Judith ground out, "I  _just_ watched the movie with you.  You don't need to try and convince me it was good."

 

"Oh...right....but you  _do_ see how it's a great movie, right?"  Her voice was almost plaintive.

 

"Yes, 'Saw, I do see how the funny, exciting, witty, charming, and surprisingly deep movie that we just watched  _is_ a great movie.  You've managed to pry that admission out of me despite all my resistance."  Judith's tone was dry, and Tapeesa chuckled.

 

"Okay, as long as you admit it."  Hopping up from her chair, Tapeesa switched out the disc for  _The World's End_ , then walked back over the couch.  However, instead of sitting back down in her own chair she instead walked over to the couch where Judith was lying down.  "Scoot over," she said, and nudged her legs aside to lay down beside her.

 

"Always trying to shove me out of the way," Judith mumbled, but she smiled as she pulled her legs to the side to make room.  "How much time until the ball drops?" She asked as Tapeesa lay down beside her, then draped her arm across Tapeesa's front and held her tightly.

 

"Uh...about two hours, so we should be able to finish the Trilogy just in time."  Tapeesa reached up to take hold of the hand that Judith lay across her stomach and squeezed.  "How exciting, I haven't stayed up to catch the new year for years."

 

"Me neither," Judith agreed, "It'll be fun."

 

* * *

 

"Oh my god, you're from  _China?!_  That is amazing, I've always wanted to visit!  What's it like?"  Korra was unprepared for the _enthusiasm_ which came with the question, and had to stop herself from taking a small step backwards away from the young woman who was nearly shouting to be heard over the music.  The question was asked with enthusiasm that might indicate an in-depth knowledge, but as Korra took in the slurred pronunciation, slightly wobbling posture and nearly-empty plastic cup clutched in hand, she realized that she did not need to become too concerned with giving herself away.

 

"It is very different from your land, but also similar in many ways.  I am surprised every day by very minor things that I have never seen before, but I also find many points where it is exactly the same."  Korra had grown practiced at being vague over her time in this world, and it was easy to say much without saying anything at all.  "We have been driving across your nation for several weeks now, it is very impressive."

 

"Oh my god, I've always wanted to go on a road trip!  You're so lucky to be able to travel like that.  To see what's out there, have that freedom, it's  _amazing!_ " This time Korra could not  _quite_ keep herself from leaning backwards as she was overcome by the excitement, and she began to realize that the entire conversation would overflow with such energy.  Surreptitiously she glanced around, hoping to find Asami again, and caught sight of her across the room speaking to Mark and two other young men she had not been introduced to.

 

"Yes, it is very nice to have this kind of freedom, when I was a child I did not get to travel outside of my home."  Korra tried to put a damper on the energy overflow.  "My parents were very worried about dangers in the world."

 

"Oh my  _god_ , that sucks so much."  She was practically screaming now, and Korra fought the urge to flinch.  "I know just how you feel, my parents would always freak-out over every news-panic and lock me in my room for a month.  They would always--OH MY GOD there's Jason!  I haven't spoken to him in  _forever_ , I need to go say 'hi'.  It was so nice meeting you!"  Before Korra could even acknowledge the farewell she was gone, and practically pounced onto the shoulders of another party guest who had just walked into the room. Korra stared after her in bemusement, then shook her head and turned back to where she had last seen Asami.  Picking her out of the crowd still talking to the same small group, she began to work her way over towards them.  As she got closer she began to overhear in the middle of Asami's sentence.

 

"--ade them a few months ago after a...small scare we had on the road.  Oh, Korra!  I was just telling Carlo how you made our necklaces, he refuses to believe me."  Asami lifted her chin as she spoke, to display the glittery metalworking that Korra had done on the road to Montreal.

 

"I don't  _'refuse_ ' to believe you," Carlo spoke up defensively, "I'm just saying that this is professional-grade work.  I did a few semesters of metalworking and I can tell this is good stuff."

 

"Thank you," Korra said, then reached up to tug her own necklace out from underneath her shirt, the twin to Asami's.  "Like Asami said, we had some problems in our journey, and afterwards...it was the right thing to do."

 

Carlo leaned forward to take in Korra's necklace, and looked back and forth between hers and Asami's.  "Wow, that is really beautiful," he said, "you've got a real talent there.  I can't even imagine making something like that, all I ever managed to turn out were some funky bracelets."

 

"They weren't  _that_ bad," chimed in the other man who was with them, whose name Korra had not learned yet, "Your 'funky bracelets' were great."  He held up his arm as he spoke, displaying a silver circlet that wrapped around his forearm.

 

"Ignore him," Carlo said, "Brian has never exactly been an impartial observer when it comes to my work."

 

In a tone of exaggerated offense, Brian exclaimed, "Hey, I am  _completely_ impartial."

 

"Uh-huh, right." Mark's tone was teasing.  "So, Korra, are you studying jewelry design?"

 

Korra had had people asking her what she was studying, and also what her 'major' was, for the entire evening, and she had come to realize that almost everybody present was in a level of advanced schooling.  "No, this is just a hobby of mine."  She tucked her necklace back into her shirt as she spoke. "I am very good with my hands, and making these two helped me relax when I really needed it."

 

The three men nodded.  "Cool," Carlo said, "I'm starting in a mechanical engineering program in a few weeks and I'm planning to get into the design track."

 

"Design?" Asami's interest piqued.  "What kind of designs?"

 

* * *

 

The DVD menu screen for  _The World's End_  looped back to the beginning of its animation for the fourth time after no option was selected, the unwatched TV lighting the room with its display.  On the couch, Judith and Tapeesa breathed deeply in sleep, Tapeesa's arms wrapped around Judith's arm that draped over her from behind.

 

Neither stirred when the menu animation began over again, except for a slight tightening of their arms around each other.

 

* * *

 

"Come on guys, we've got less than five minutes!" Mark shouted to the room, trying to attract the attention of the stragglers still lurking in the back and waving them towards the crowd already gathered around the largest TV in the apartment.  Some people jockeyed for position, straining for a better view of the screen or to be next to a particular person, and then all turned their focus to the display.

 

"Will this show really be as amazing as they are acting?" Korra asked.  "When Tapeesa described it it didn't sound like a very impressive sight."

 

"I don't know," Asami shrugged, "I think they're probably more excited for the new year than they are for the ball.  Think about it: A new beginning for the whole world.  I can understand their enthusiasm."

 

"Especially for  _this_ crowd," Korra agreed, "They enjoy _everything_.  I don't think I've ever been told how amazing I am this much in one evening before.  And I'm the Avatar!"

 

Asami laughed, but could not find any room to argue.  The entire party had been filled with good cheer and fascination with almost everything they had said.  "I was talking with Brian earlier, and he explained to me that they have a tradition: You're supposed to be doing what you want to do for the rest of the year the moment the clock strikes midnight.  That way it sets the tone for all the coming months."

 

"Makes sense," Korra said, "Although I'm not sure I'd want to be at this party for an entire  _year_.  It's fun, but I think I'd tire after a month or two."

 

Asami laughed again, then nudged Korra's shoulder.  "Very true, but since the two of us are here together, I can think of worse things."  Around them, the crowd began counting down in unison to a chant of " _10...9...8..._ "

 

"Well, there's only a few seconds left," Korra said, "so unless you can think of something else you'd rather..."  Her words cut off abruptly as she felt Asami tilt her head up, then her thoughts came to a halt as Asami pressed herself against her and Korra felt the fire their lips together.  Asami's arms circled around the back of her neck, and by instinct Korra's arms wrapped around her waist at the same time.  Together, they lost themselves in each other.

 

"That's it everyone!" Mark shouted, "Happy New Year!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original intent was to have Tapeesa bring out Sergio Leone's "The Man With No Name" Trilogy (Also known as the Dollars Trilogy), but almost immediately after writing that I had second thoughts. Leone's epics are (Justifiably) regarded as some of the best films of all time, and that means they get relatively frequent props in recognition of their greatness. The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, on the other hand, is not often name-dropped, and it _should_ be. Tapeesa's comments on _Hot Fuzz_ are a copy/paste of a post I made on a forum a few months back, because it really is one of the singularly most competent film productions I've ever seen, it should be shown in film school to show people how to make a project _work_. I'm not saying it's better than _The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_ , but it deserves its recognition.
> 
>    
> This midnight kiss was, inevitably, inspired by the kiss from the webcomic _Misfile_ :
> 
>  


	129. Chapter 129

Lieutenant-colonel George Monke looked up as there was a polite wrap on his door, then fought the urge to growl as Major Gregory Harrison entered.  There had been a time when he considered Harrison to be one of his primary legmen, that was why he had tapped him for on-site liaison and supervision during the initial retrieval operation in Montreal, but that was before they had spent months spinning their wheels in the wake of one of the most humiliating attacks on Canadian soil in the past century.  Ever since the events at CFB Comox, where by all reports two young women had managed to effortlessly incapacitate dozens of RCAF personnel and _demolish_ several buildings in the midst of a secure facility before escaping with two prisoners who had been held under armed guard, there had been no new information.  No reputable sightings by the public, no contact from the fugitives, no information from foreign or domestic intelligence sources,  _nothing_.  They had not even left a trail of broken roadblocks as the fled the base before going to ground; once off of Vancouver Island (However it was they had left) they had simply vanished, and as the days became weeks and then months the time weighed on Monke like a solid mass.  In moments of honesty Monke had to admit that Harrison had never performed his duty with anything less than diligence and dedication, and logically he could not be personally blamed when the _entire_ Comox facility had been compromised, but as it was, every time he walked through the door Monke was reminded of how blatant their combined failure was.

 

"Sir," Harrison said, coming to a crisp attention that gave no indication of how much he must have likewise been feeling the strain, "I've spoken to Colonel McCartney and the review board, they would like to move up the briefing to tomorrow morning.  10:00.  Colonel McCartney's return flight is scheduled for the afternoon."  Harrison kept his tone even, but Monke could sense his resentment regardless, and he felt his own hackles rise at the news.  This briefing had been scheduled last week, before Colonel Vincent McCartney had even been assigned by the United States as their representative to sit in, and this last-minute adjustment had to be a calculated insult.  Either by McCartney, who had not bothered to arrange his travel around the predetermined schedule, or by the board itself, who had not bothered to inform him of the conflict in advance.  Either way, it was yet another reminder of how their recent performance was viewed.

 

"Thank you, Major, I'll make the necessary arrangements." Like Harrison had, Monke made sure to keep his thoughts from affecting his voice.  "Will any members of the board need to schedule a second briefing in this event?"

 

"No, sir, they will all be in attendance."  Monke's skin tightened at the confirmation that this was a deliberate provocation; arranging the original meeting had been complicated by the news that several of the board members already had morning engagements, they had to have had this time-change in mind for days to give them opportunities to re-arrange their own schedules.

 

"Very well.  Thank you, Major.  Dismissed."  Harrison braced to attention again, then returned through the doorway and left Monke alone.  Monke would have liked to lower his head into his hands, to let himself release the weight for ten seconds, but instead he pulled out several files from his desk and began to rapidly work his way through them.  Moving the briefing up a few hours would not pose many major obstacles, their information had been compiled days ago, but he would still need to appraise all the attendees and presenters of the new time to make sure there was no last-minute confusion.  Even if all he and to report was "I have nothing to report", it needed to be handled promptly and accurately.

 

* * *

 

 

"...that was the last confirmed contact we had,  Personally, I doubt that the tree on the western coastline was felled after the conclusion of their attack on the base, especially not with the time pressures they must have been feeling.  I agree with the initial report; they likely _landed_ on the site and felled the tree then for whatever reason, before making their move on the base itself.  What they needed the tree _for_ I can't say," Major Harrison concluded, "Since then all we have received are the unverified--and unverifiable--rumors Captain Aarons covered."  He did not make any kind of overt gesture, but he nonetheless managed to indicate the seated officer who had opened the briefing with the most recent batch of reported fugitive sightings from around the country.  They had followed up on those as best they could, but many of them they had never even bothered to investigate.  Stories about unidentified suspicious women came in by the dozen; from reports about muggings in Edmonton to people hiding in the wilderness in Nova Scotia, even some eyebrow-quirking reports from the United States about foreign women winning bar-fight competitions.  It would have drained their manpower to exhaustion to try and pry into even a tenth of these wild stories, so they had focused on those which seemed to have potential support.

 

"Thank you, Major.  We have only a few follow-up points of clarification."  The comment came from the head of the table, where representatives from the different branches of the Canadian Armed Forces and assorted civilian agencies, with ambassadors from select foreign bodies as well, received the review.  "General?"

 

Brigadier-General Hartley leaned forward slightly, not even glancing down at the notes he had been taking during the briefing.  "Major, we've reviewed the testimony you took from Lieutenant Moon before the attack on CFB Comox, along with the psychological analysis of its content.  It's clear that whatever organization these two mystery women belong to, they had managed to rather seriously compromise Lieutenant Moon's judgement.  The question I have is how far back this goes; had she been suborned even before the pulse, or was she co-opted after their original escape from custody?"

 

"Sir, I'm not sure if Lieutenant Moon ever was 'suborned'."  Harrison paused to marshal his thoughts before saying something more, but Hartley interjected before he could resume.  "By her own account of events as she gave them to you, she admits that she withheld information during her original debrief after she was recovered following the first breakout.  Not only that, she gave aide and comfort to the unidentified women, Korra and Asami, when she encountered them during her recovery, and neglected to report that they had made contact at all.  She let them stay in her  _home_.  I don't see any other way to interpret that."

 

Waiting to make sure that Hartley had finished--interrupting during a pause for breath was not an option open to a Major when speaking to General--Harrison replied, "In point of fact, sir, the residence in question in Squamish was leased by Tapeesa Aippaq, Lieutenant Moon had rented a room at a separate motel.  And I think it's more complicated than that, sir.  Lieutenant Moon seemed very sincere in her relation of what she had experienced and looked completely unprepared for the events at Comox.  Considering that other personnel have reported similar...experiences...when relating their own encounters, I think it's more likely that the experiences following the original airplane escape combined with whatever hallucinogens these women are using have...skewed...her perceptions."

 

"So, you're saying she's not a traitor, she's just been driven insane?"

 

Harrison hesitated, then methodically continued.  "I don't believe I'm qualified to make that specific judgement, but from my own interactions with her I believe that  _she_ believes what she said.  What that means...we will need to determine once we have more data and see what it is these women are actually planning."

 

"Speaking of," Colonel McCartney suddenly spoke, "Do we have any more information on who it is these two women actually  _do_ work for?"  The United States Air Force officer had primarily remained quiet throughout the briefing, except for the occasional small noise of affirmation or disagreement, seemingly content to get through the entire planned presentation before raising his own questions.  "Anything more than just 'unidentified foreign nationals'?"

 

"Unfortunately not, sir.  We have as yet been unable to identify the language the two women spoke amongst themselves in the time they were in custody at Station Alert, although I have been told that it is likely part of the Sino-Tibetan family grouping that covers many languages in South-eastern and Eastern Asia.  It's likely it was a constructed language of some sort to prevent information leakage.  Their writing style was Traditional Chinese characters, but nothing they said while they were in custody connected directly to either the People's Republic of China or to the Republic of China, and we're operating under the assumption that it was all deliberate misinformation.  We've expanded our interest to underground and criminal organizations operating out of both territories, so far without success.  Several organizations have claimed them as members after they started making the news, but none of them have panned out; most were just clueless people trying to get fame by association."

 

"Do we at least know for certain if it's a government, commercial or criminal enterprise?"  This question came from a representative of the CSIS, who Harrison thought should have been the one  _answering_ that question.

 

"Not with certainty, no sir.  Given their demonstrated capabilities our analysts are leaning towards a foreign government, or at least a powerful NGO, but that's still conjecture."  He seemed to mull something over, then said "My own opinion is that they're correct in that assumption.  These two didn't learn to fight in a back alley somewhere and they didn't cobble together their equipment from a hardware store, they had long-term training and have powerful backers."

 

"On that note," General Hartley spoke up again, "You were the seniormost officer to personally encounter the two during their attack on Comox.  You've also been privy to information that most of the security forces stationed at the base have not been cleared to learn.  What was your take on of their actions?  Personally."

 

"Sir, I...I've never seen anything like it, and much of it I still don't understand.  From where I was in the interrogation with Lieutenant Moon it looked like they ripped the door clean off its hinges, but neither I nor anybody else saw any kind of equipment that could apply that much leverage, let alone what simultaneously disarmed me, Sergeant Remus and Corporal Tavis.  Nobody's been able to explain a lot of the structural damage throughout the facility, either.  The women themselves..."  The pause here was more noticeable. "Sergeant Remus was incapacitated by Korra hand-to-hand, and Asami disabled both me and Corporal Tavis through a electrified glove like a stun gun.  Remus must have out-massed Korra two-to-one and she made it look easy.  She literally bounced him of the roof.  I can't offer any explanations beyond what we've already run through, but I personally believe that these two represent heavily vested interests; whoever they are, they're serious players."

 

There were quiet mutters between the reviewers for close to a minute before the spokesman spoke again.  "Thank you, Major, that will be all for now.  Colonel Monke?"  Stepping aside, Major Harrison took a seat off to the side next to Captain Aarons and Major Simmon as the Colonel took his position.  "Colonel, we've been brought up to speed on the current situation in your area of responsibility, before we adjourn and move on to briefings from other relevant agencies, do you have anything final to add pertaining to future operations?"

 

"Nothing definitive, no sir.  Captain Aarons, Major Harrison and Major Simmons have covered all pertinent information in our possession.  I do have one final personal observation to make."  Colonel Monke waited for the nod to continue.  "When I served with Lieutenant Moon I never questioned either her loyalty or her sanity, and I put great stock in her judgement.  As my original reports from the initial investigation show, she was appraising me of potential risks regarding Korra and Asami before anybody else had twigged to their capabilities.  For her to have been compromised like this, either willingly or unwillingly, to aide these women in their flight and be complicit in the kidnapping of Ms. Aippaq, speaks to the seriousness of the situation just as greatly as the destruction we've seen these women capable of creating."  His pause was not intended specifically for dramatic effect, but he knew it was having that effect anyway.  "I must recommend that these women continue to be treated as an imminent threat, and that their location and detention be given the highest priority.  I do not know what it is they've planning for the past three months while they've been hiding, but whatever it is, if we don't stop it first it's going to hit like a sledgehammer."

 

* * *

 

 

Lying on the beach, Korra watched Tapeesa walk up to the ocean's edge, skipping back a few steps each time the waves washed ashore and tried to engulf her feet.  Joo Dee followed close behind, her footing sure on the sand, staring out over the water.  When Asami dropped to the ground beside her, passing over a wrapped sandwich that she had just taken from their beach baggage, Korra let her head fall to the side and rest on Asami's shoulder.  "How much longer should we stay out here?" She asked.

 

"We've got a few more hours of good light left, I think," Asami said, "Then we should head in."

 

"Any thoughts for the evening?" Korra asked, letting herself lean ever more heavily into Asami.

 

"Nothing concrete," Asami said, reached up to wrap her arm around Korra's shoulders.  "We'll think of something."

 

"Okay, just let me know."  Korra made a few inarticulate sounds as she felt Asami begin to run her fingers through her hair, then turned to snuggle in even closer.  A few minutes later her breathing had steadied, and Asami smiled as she felt Korra completely relax in her arms.  Gently, Asami lay her down on their towel, then turned to cover her up before closing her own eyes.

 

Tapeesa and Joo Dee would let them know when it was time to go in.


	130. Chapter 130

Curling the blankets in tightly to fully ensconce herself in a padded cocoon, Korra was about to drop back into sleep completely when the blankets were suddenly pulled away and Asami's voice rang out, "Korra, you need to get up, you're going to be late for work."  Korra's response was more of an inarticulate grumble than actual words, until she jerked at the sudden feel of Asami's hand on her.  "What's the rush?"  Korra complained, "It's right next door!"

 

"It doesn't matter how close it is if you don't  **go** ," Asami said plaintively.  "You need to be there in twenty minutes."

 

"Just five more minutes,"  Korra pleaded, "then I'll get up."

 

"That's what you said half an hour ago, it's  _time_."  Reaching across her body, Asami lay her hands on either side of Korra's shoulders and pulled her upright.  "I've already made breakfast, you can eat a few bites on your way out the door, so  _come on_.  It's waiting for you on the table."  Still grumbling, Korra allowed herself to be guided out of the bed, then began scrambling to get dressed and ready as Asami busied herself and they both rushed to be ready.  Stumbling into the apartment's small kitchen, Korra stopped and stared at the table, which held only several slices of toast and a dish of butter.  "Asami, I thought you said you  made breakfast!"

 

Following her into the kitchen, Asami peaked over Korra's shoulder.  "I  _did_  make breakfast, and I must say that it was  _very_  delicious."  Leaning forward, she pecked Korra on the cheek and lightly nudged her towards the table.  "Maybe if you're out of bed earlier tomorrow there will still be some left when you're all ready.  Now hurry up and eat, you don't have much time."

 

Grumbling to herself, Korra grabbed the remaining pieces of toast and hastily smeared them with butter, beginning to eat as she pulled the door closed behind her and began to take the elevator down to the building's ground floor.  She was still chewing as the walked out onto the sidewalk in front of the building, turned right, and walked to the construction site in the lot next door.

 

* * *

 

 

"We've got to clear out the garbage today on the east quad, they're going to begin heavier work next week and the ground all needs to be ready." After the foreman spoke he stared at the people gathered before him and said loudly, almost shouting.  " _Llevarse la basura._ _Basura!_ "  Korra had noticed that he switched to this other language whenever he spoke to this same group of workers, which she  **thought** was known as 'Spanish', but he did not seem to speak it very fluently himself.  Since she did not speak any Spanish at all, Korra was grateful that he would only repeat what he already said in English.  "Let's go you 老子莫, we don't have all day!"  The group broke up indecisively and with a half-dozen brief internal conversations, before the original instructions seemed to be passed from one person to the next through the whole mass and they began to move with more purpose.

 

"Hold on a sec.  Carrie!  You!  New girl!   _Espera!_ "  Korra paused mid-step as she realized she was being called, then turned to see the foreman's assistant waving her over.  She had seen him around the property in the foreman's shadow, but had never had occasion to speak to him before.

 

This was her second week working as one of the general carriers and laborers at this construction site, which was the soon-to-be home of another oceanfront building to match the skyline already present.  The work was monotonous and unskilled, and if her understanding of monetary value in this world was accurate it paid nowhere close to a true living wage, but they had not asked for any identification or paperwork at the start, and Korra, Asami, Tapeesa and Joo Dee's needs were few.  It was frustrating to see the entire process go so slowly--With Asami to guide her on the complicated mechanical issues, Korra figured that she could have constructed the entire building herself in only a short time--but for now she was content to serve as a porter beneath notice, and she wondered why she was being called out.  "Yes?" She asked, cautiously walking over.

 

" _Hablas inglés?_ " He asked.

 

"I am sorry, I do not speak Spanish," Korra said, wondering what he was asking.

 

The foreman blinked at her in surprise.  "What do you mean you don't...uh...anyway, it's Carrie, right?"

 

"Korra," she corrected by reflex.

 

"Right, 'Korra'."  He looked her up and down quickly before speaking.  "Today's clearing is going to be heavy lifting, it might be a bit much for you.   _El trabajo de las mujeres_...no, wait, you don't speak...we've got some lighter work in the office, one of the cleaners didn't show up today." He gestured towards the small, portable buildings that were stretched along one side of the property.  "Head on inside, Billy can get you all set up."

 

Glancing over to where the other workers had already begun heaving and lugging the scattered bits of debris around, Korra saw half-a-dozen who were already struggling and breathing hard.  She had seen over the past week that many of them were in poor health, some clearly suffering from malnutrition and others from a myriad of untreated illnesses, but none looked able to afford to either treat their ills or stop working to recuperate.  Almost any one of them could have used a lighter workload more than her, and probably would have been able to do it better than her given that they had to possess a greater familiarity with office work in this world.  Besides, she enjoyed working outside, and dreaded being stuck in one of the tiny boxes all day long.

 

"No thank you," she said to him, "I will be fine out here.  You should ask one of the other workers." Pausing momentarily to see if he had anything else to say, Korra turned and walked over to where the rest of the group was working.

 

* * *

 

 

"So, what  _are_  you looking for?" Tapeesa asked, leaning over Asami's shoulder and watching her scroll through the Google search results apparently at random.

 

"Nothing in particular," Asami said, "I am just trying to pass the time.  I am still getting used to having so much available time with nothing to fill it."

 

"And you're trying to fill that time with fashion blogs?"  Tapeesa's tone was disbelieving as the models flashed on the screen one after the other in various styles and shades of undress.

 

"You have so many styles in this world," Asami explained, "More than I feel like I realize even now, and they have so many connections.  Some styles apparently connect to political movements, others are decided by religion, and some are used by different groups to say different things; and that is all within the same nation.  This complexity is one more thing that is so different from my home; I do not believe there are as many different fashion styles in all five nations as there are in just one city.  I still remember how shocked Korra and I were when we saw the way people dressed at a musical club when we were in Montreal; it was different from anything we had seen even in your world."  She grinned at the fond memory, and absentmindedly hummed a few notes from a song that Tapeesa thought sounded vaguely familiar.

 

"Trust me on this, even as a native of 'our world', nobody ever really gets a handle on all the different brands of fashion.  What's big one year can disappear the next, and it might come back again in a few, or it might become mocked forevermore.  It's impossible to keep up, and if you ask me it's insane to try."  Tapeesa's tone might have been dismissive, but Asami noticed the way she was staring at the computer screen regardless.  "Oh, but she's cute," she said as a woman posing against a city skyline came onto the display.

 

"'Little Rachel'," Asami translated off of the top of the web-page, which had the title in French.

 

"' _Petite Rachelle_ '," Tapeesa corrected.

 

Asami looked at Tapeesa askew, "'Little Rachel' is what  _Petite Rachelle_  means, it is French."

 

"Yes, but the web-site is in English," Tapeesa explained.  "When they use one language except for the name like that, it's deliberate for effect.  They want the site to be known as  _Petite Rachelle_ , not 'Little Rachel'."  When Asami's expression did not change, Tapeesa grinned.  "Trust me."

 

"Sometimes I do not think I will ever understand how your world functions with all these different languages."  Turning back to the computer, Asami began to tab through the pages of the web-site, which offered personal styling services and general fashion advice.

 

Following along with Asami's browsing, Tapeesa shrugged.  "We figure it out.  Mostly.   Ooooh, that one's nice.  'Blanketed in Blanche'.  Although I'm not sure if I'd like to be caught out in a blizzard like that."  The 'Blanche' style had apparently been created after a heavy snow storm, and featured a covering blanket-wrap.

 

"I think this is more intended for urban comfort than wilderness survival," Asami remarked, "Particularly in a city like that."  The text information said the location was 'New York City'; from all that Asami had heard, that was one of the contested capitals of the whole world.

 

"Probably," Tapeesa agreed.  "But it looks nice.  What else do they have?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can visit _Petite Rachelle_ at http://www.petiterachelle.com for fashion and style advice.
> 
> There's a bit of a time-cheat here; the "Blanketed in Blanche" style was posted in January of 2016 instead of 2015, but I think we can let that slide, eh?


	131. Chapter 131

"Let me get this straight," Tapeesa's voice was muffled behind the television as she fumbled with cables, "You lived with a teenager for two months and never played any video games?"

 

"We were still getting used to even being in this world at all," Asami explained from the couch, watching Tapeesa run the cables back and forth from the green box on the floor.  "Computers and the internet were already strange to us, we did not think to explore yet another level of electronic devices.  It took us a few days to even realize that people on TV could not see us, we spent a lot of time waving at the screen and waiting for a response."  Asami grinned at the memory, with a little bit of wistfulness in her eyes.  "Kunik and Pete did not know  _what_ to make of it."

 

"I'll bet.  I still can't believe your world doesn't have  _any_ of this stuff.....Ah, got it!"  After stretching taut one final time, Tapeesa withdrew from the cramped confines of the cabinet and picked up the remote control to turn on the TV.  "Are you ready?"

 

"Are you sure this will not tell anybody that we are here?"  Asami asked, "I do know that video games often use the internet to communicate."

 

"Don't worry about that, I've turned off the apartment's wi-fi, the system can't connect to anything."  Tapeesa waved in the general direction of the computer station in the corner of the living room.  "Nobody can see us on-line."

 

"Okay," Asami said, then held up the small device that had lain next to the TV remote control.  "Explain this to me again."

 

"It's essentially just a computer, except it's a lot more specialized; instead of doing a little bit of everything, it focuses on interactive games.  You use this control instead of a mouse and keyboard."  Taking the control from Asami's hand, Tapeesa held down the large button in its center until the lights on the green box on the floor began flashing, and the TV itself lit up.  "I'll get you started."  After a few seconds of shifting logos, the screen settled into an image of text floating in space over a planet, and Tapeesa began to press various buttons and apply pressure to the levers.  Asami glanced rapidly back and forth between her and the screen, following each change and development.  "We start by creating a profile; you get to pick if your character will be male or female, what they look like, part of the name, their family background, and their training as well.  That gets you at a basic starting point for the game, and everything expands from there."

 

"And what are the classes again?"

 

"Those cover what kinds of skills your character can learn, and gives you different advantages or disadvantages for different parts of the game.  'Soldier' is the basic combat-heavy class; your character has more health, can wear heavier armor, and can use more weapons.  'Engineer' is the tech-based class, you'd be right at home; you have fewer guns and armor, but you can disable other technology, improve your own shields, and work with computer systems.  'Adept' is all about telekinesis...uh, think of it like bending in a way; you can move the enemies and the environment around without touching them.  Then there are different combinations of each three if you want to mix-and-match."

 

Asami listened to the options, then asked "How do you play?"

 

"I'm an Adept all the way...or, I _was_ , anyway.  On my account I could get the Assault Rifle as a bonus skill, so I could just toss around the entire level and pick 'em off one by one.  When you see a Colossus just floating helplessly it's like...uh...well, it's probably nothing compared to actually  _doing_ this stuff like you and Korra can, but it's still fun."

 

"'Adept' is like bending you said?" Asami asked after she considered Tapeesa's explanations.

 

"That's right."

 

"I will try that," Asami said, then accepted the control back from Tapeesa and turned to the screen.

 

* * *

 

" _Buenas noches, amigos_ ," Korra called, waving as she walked away from the construction site and acknowledging a few scattered shouts in return.  Most of the other workers either walked to the bus stop a block up from the site or piled into a few vans parked nearby, talking amongst themselves as they shuffled away.  Korra had picked up barely a smattering of their language, enough to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' and a sparse few other common phrases, and so just as when she and Asami had first arrived in Canada she got by with gestures and expressions and tone to cover intentions and feelings, even if precise thoughts were out of reach.  Now the exhaustion and relief at the end of the day were apparent even across the language barriers, and the mass shuffled away into the night.

 

"Korra!  Wait!"  Turning around at the call, Korra saw Esteban walking over and speaking with his son Ignacio very animatedly.  Ignacio had only joined their work crew a few days ago and had dourly kept to himself, silent even with most of the other workers, but Esteban had been voluble and helpful from the start.  He spoke English well, even better than she did--there were times when she still struggled with particular phrases and cultural touchstones--so his friendliness had been a boon during her first few days, and was still helpful after she had been there for a few weeks.

 

" _Hola_ Esteban,  _hola_ Ignacio.   _Qué puedo_... _hacer_....uh....what can I do for you?"  Esteban laughed good-naturedly when Korra gave up and switched to English, and even the corners of Igancio's mouth twitched upwards in a brief grin.

 

"What are your doing this evening?" Esteban asked.  "Now that Ignacio's home Luciana has decided that every meal needs to be a banquet, and if the two of us don't get some help then she's going to have us doubled-up inside a week.  Come over for dinner tonight and help protect us from bursting?"

 

"Dinner tonight?"  Korra was surprised at the invitation; Esteban had been friendly, yes, but he was friendly with  _everybody_ , she had not thought that his easy smile and constant jokes meant that they had grown any particular friendship.  And Ignacio...glancing at Ignacio, Korra could see that he was frowning determinedly, almost palpably uncomfortable.  "I am sorry, but I cannot come this evening.  I must get home."

 

"Are you sure?  It's not far, and Luciana makes the  _best_  escabeche.  We could use the company, I think Ignacio's getting tired of eating with his parents every night."  Esteban chucked him lightly on the shoulder, and if possible Ignacio's glower deepened even further.

 

Considering that Esteban's lunch always looked and smelled delicious, even having been packed and stored for the whole day, the promise of Luciana's cooking was very tempting, but Korra shook her head.  "Thank you, but no.  They will be waiting for me.  Maybe another time?"

 

"Another time;"  Esteban accepted the semi-acquiescence.  "Talk to your family, maybe you can come tomorrow.  If not, there is always the future, yes?  Come, let us at least give you a ride home, I think we made you miss the bus."  The bus was just then pulling away from the stop on the street.

 

"That is not necessary, I am staying right next door," Korra nodded towards the apartment building next to the construction site.

 

"You're.....there?"  Esteban stared in the high-rise in something like shock, and even Ignacio lost his determined frown momentarily.

 

"Yes, but I really must be going.  Good night."  Taking a half-turn to the side, Korra faced the street and prepared to walk off.

 

"Oh, right, yes, goodnight.  We will see you tomorrow."  Giving her an absentminded wave, Esteban tore his gaze away from the apartment building and he and Ignacio turned back to where their truck had been parked.

 

* * *

 

 

Making her way back to the apartment where they were staying, Korra came through the door to an unfamiliar speech coming from the television.  " _\--of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel._ "  The voice changed.  " _Spectres are not trained, but chosen.  Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file_."  The first voice returned, determinedly.  " _Spectres are an ideal, a symbol.  The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance.  They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will---_ "

 

"Hey Asami, I might have plans for dinner for tomorrow.  What are you watching?"  Korra asked, then jumped backwards as Asami nearly leapt out of her seat on the couch, accompanied by a breathless shriek.  "What is it, what's wrong?"

 

"Oh, Korra, you scared the life out of me."  Asami fell back into the couch breathing deeply.  "I didn't hear you come in.  I was very....focused."  She reached over to pick up the controller she had dropped at Korra's appearance.

 

"So I see," Korra smirked, walking over and dropping onto the couch next to Asami.  "What are you watching?"  The screen was holding on the face of a woman, drawn in the style called "CGI", but she did not seem to be saying or doing anything as Korra watched.

 

"It's not a mover, it's a video game," Asami explained, "We found it in the front closet a few weeks ago, Tapeesa connected it today.  It's like a computer, we can control what happens using this."  She held up the controller and moved one of the levers to demonstrate; on the screen, Korra saw a small yellow icon rotate around a wheel at the bottom of the screen.  "I've been playing for a few hours now, it's....very engrossing."

 

"I noticed, you looked dead to the world."  On the screen, the woman began to speak after Asami pressed a button on the controller, and then several other characters spoke again in response.  "Who is she?"

 

"That's my character; you play as her directly, controlling what she says and does.  Commander Shepard."  Asami hesitated briefly, then clarified.  "Commander  _Senna_ Shepard."  Korra's eyes widened, and Asami continued, "She's a kind, helpful woman who helps everyone around her become better by being an example.  I needed an appropriate name."

 

Korra stared at her wide-eyed, then looked back at the screen and the face upon it.  Now that she was looking closely, she could recognize vague physical similarities; the same warm, dark coloring in her skin and hair, the greenish-blue eyes.  It was not a particularly close artist's rendering, but knowing what to look for...  "What's the rest of the game like?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, I've recently been promoted to Moderator at http://www.gailsimone.net/forum/, the forum for comicbook author Gail Simone. If you like talking about comicbooks, or anything at all really, come on by and say 'hi'. I will admit that the LoK fandom isn't exactly boiling over, but we've got plenty of crossover love with other TV shows, books, movies, comics, video games, etc. We've been migrating from locale to locale for years now and are always happy to get new members.
> 
> * * *
> 
> The reason the X-Box 360 is specified as 'green' is because they have found the limited-edition _Halo_ release. For the curious, Asami's Commander Shepard profile is:
> 
> Pre-Service History: Spacer  
> Psychological Profile: War Hero  
> Class: Adept  
> Bonus Talent: Assault Rifle


	132. Chapter 132

" _Buenos días_ , Raúl," Korra said, nodding politely as she stepped out of the way to let the young man walk past.  " _Buenos días_ , Korra," he responded, nodding in turn as he walked past and joined a group of workers eating lunch at the far end of the yard.  Glancing back where he had walked from, Korra saw Ignacio sitting on an overhanging ledge, staring out over the ocean and idly kicking his legs back and forth as they dangled in the air.

 

"Good morning Ignacio," Korra called as she approached.  " _Como estas hoy?_ "  At the sound of her voice he twitched in his seat, and quickly turned around to scan the area behind her in an almost frantic motion.  "Do not worry," she assured him, "Esteban is busy speaking to the foreman, he will not see us or get any ideas."

 

"Oh," Ignacio visibly relaxed, his hunched shoulders lowering into a more natural posture.  "Thank you."

 

Korra lightly dropped down onto the ledge next to him, letting her legs dangle next to his.  "He has not slackened?"

 

Letting a small smile show, Ignacio shook his head.  "With Valentine's Day coming up?  Are you kidding?  He's gotten  _worse_."

 

Korra had allowed Esteban to talk her into accompanying him and Ignacio home for dinner the week before, and true to Esteban's promise his wife Luciana was a  _phenomenal_ cook who had heaped so much food onto everybody's plate that Korra had managed to bring home a second serving to share with Asami.  However, she had also realized less than ten minutes into the meal that the  _reason_ Esteban had invited her to dinner was because he was hoping to foster a romance between herself and Ignacio, and between him, his wife, and the two daughters Korra had not even known he had, the only person less enthusiastic about the idea than her was Ignacio himself.  His glower had grown more and more pronounced at every transparent compliment from his parents and suggestive comment by his sisters, and his expression had not lightened until Korra managed to explain that she was already in a relationship when she found an unexpected pause in the stream of dialogue and forced her way into it.  Since that night Korra noticed the way Esteban seemed to seek out every worker at the site who had a sister or daughter of the appropriate age with 'casual' invitations to dinner.  Never rudely or aggressively, but obvious enough that most had learned to quietly duck out of the way when he had his 'charm' expression on.

 

"Now he's trying to talk to Raúl's sister, Juliá, and he might just be driving Raúl even crazier than me."  Ignacio nodded gently towards the far end of the yard, where Korra could make out Raúl eating his own lunch with his own small group.

 

"I am sorry," Korra gently lay her hand on Ignacio's shoulder, and when he did not try to shake her off she squeezed gently.  "Is there some reason you do not want your father's help in finding a girlfriend?"  She felt his shoulder tense up beneath her fingers, then relax back to _almost_ normal.  She had noticed that his perpetual moroseness approached or receded depending on how close he was to his father's machinations, and he had become almost friendly once he realized that Korra did not want to become his date any more than he did.

 

"Why do I need a reason?"  He asked defensively, "I just don't like the way he tries to meddle in my life.  Constantly.  It's every single day, almost all the time that we're together, and I don't even get a break at work or at home because-- _Oh mira_ \--he's at work and home, too.  It's just..." He shrugged, and even though Korra could tell he was not trying to actively shake her off, she released her grip anyway.

 

"Okay," Korra said, and in the ensuing silence she let the subject lie.

 

They sat on the ledge for another ten minutes, facing the ocean, before equipment and voices began to rise behind them and they swung themselves upright.  "Come on," Korra said, "Back to work."

 

* * *

 

 

"Look, I am going stir-crazy right now," Asami heard Joo Dee say, "I'm just going to circle the block.  Maybe finally head into that mall we've all been too scared to go to."

 

"Well, hold on a second and I'll come with you."  Tapeesa's voice was faint coming through the walls of the apartment, but the thuddings on the floor followed her scrambling to pull on outerwear.  "I could use the exercise."

 

"Fine, but you better not slow me down!"  The words were mock-fierce, but Asami could read the undertones beneath it; Joo Dee's balance and motion  _were_  getting better, and she was pushing herself harder and harder to restore her physical abilities.

 

"Just gimme a sec.  Hey, Asami?"  Asami finally looked up from the computer at Tapeesa's call, glancing over to where the two of them stood by the door.  "We're going to go out for a walk and some fresh air.  Want to come with?"

 

"No, thank you."  Asami said, turning back to the monitor, "I am in the middle of something."

 

"Uh-huh, right.  What is it now, are you still on 'Let's Play' walkthroughs?"  Tapeesa's tone was teasing.

 

"No, I have found a sequence of videos discussing comic books and their relevance to the modern world."  She continued to click through the web pages as she spoke, "The identities and methods of super villains are very indicative of the societal fears prevalent in different eras."  She could feel Tapeesa's eyes on her for a few moments more, before she heard her turn away mumbling something that she could not quite make out.  Asami caught the phrase 'turning her into a nerd' and was about to ask for a clarification when Tapeesa spoke up "Have fun, we'll be back soon" and she and Joo Dee closed the door behind them.

 

Grinning, Asami returned her focus to the computer information, which really  _did_ contain the cultural examination that she had mentioned, but instead of the clinical scholarship she had implied it was presented in entertaining fashion by many different sources in wildly variating styles of humor, satire and drama.  They were both informative and enjoyable, which put them equal to--or above--most of the television shows they had experienced so far in this world.  Glancing at the video sidebar, which offered recommendations and suggestions based on what she had already watched, she moved on to the next option which caught her eye; it almost looked like firebending.  "Batwoman?" she wondered at the title; Tapeesa had spoken about the Batwoman character when she had first introduced her and Korra to comicbooks, but she had not actually recommended or pointed out any Batwoman comics when they had visited the comic shop soon after they arrived in Florida.

 

As she watched the video and saw that it showed a dissatisfied fan literally  _burning_ _the_ _comicbook_ , Asami thought she might have figured out why.

 

Asami continued to stare at the screen after the video had ended, then slowly shook her head as she closed the window and shut down the computer.  Many of the videos she had seen contained voluble profanity and exaggerated expressions of rage, and some even had false destruction portrayed through theatricality, but that was the first time she had seen one of them actually go so far as to physically destroy the subject they were discussing.  To actually burn the material itself....the idea revolted Asami; no matter how poor the quality it was, the better option obviously seemed to be to  _respond_ to it, to make it  _better_.  To just try and throw it away accomplished nothing.  It was a waste that this world, which had  _so much knowledge_ that their own world did not, could just throw it away in a fit of pique.

 

Deciding to clear her head, Asami quickly changed into her workout clothes and took the elevator down to the gym.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh my God," Tapeesa gasped as she stared around the open-air interior of the mall that she and Judith had finally worked up the courage to enter, taking in storefront displays lining the walkways, "Can we even afford to walk through here?"

 

"We can start a tab."  Judith responded; she was trying to be flip, but even her voice was a little subdued.  "...uh...maybe under a fake name so we can skip out on it afterwards."  She glanced aside at Tapeesa, and the two of them simultaneously began laughing.

 

Luxury fashion stores, jewelry shops, and restaurants glittered around them like the beckoning call of the shopping hedonist, with mannequins draped in shimmering fabrics whose value Judith could not even guess at.  Even the walkway seemed to ooze money; fountains bubbled, planted trees and landscaping made it seem like the shops were nestled in the jungle, and leaning over the railing Judith could see giant goldfish leisurely swimming through pools scattered along the mall's length.  After so long living on the "fugitive road trip" rationing level it had been a return to luxury when they got a roof over their heads and began to have enough money to reliably eat fast food without considering it a wasted expense, but the merchandise on display made even their temporary home seem shabby.

 

Months ago, Judith might have felt self-conscious for her and Tapeesa to be hobbling through in their well-worn clothing, but after everything that had happened she did not care if they happened to get any second glances, instead enjoying the luxurious surroundings they found themselves in.

 

"You can just  _feel_ the money," Tapeesa said, and oozed over to display of handbags and purses in different shades of leather and silk.  "Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to carry one of these out of here."

 

"Carrying it out wouldn't be that hard, the problem would be keeping it afterwards once security had tackled us both."  Judith looked at the display of diamond necklaces hanging behind the handbags and felt the same lusting pull.  "I don't even wear jewelry and I want them."

 

"You can't fight it, none of us can.  The lure of shiny objects is a pull too strong for any mere mortal to defy."  Regretfully, Tapeesa and Judith both backed away from the display and turned to continue down the pathway.  Walking on, they each turned to see families out together, little kids running with their parents, couples walking arm-in-arm, and the occasional solo wanderer people-watching like them.

 

"Hey, let's get something to eat," Tapeesa suddenly said, and before Judith could respond she had grabbed her arm and nearly dragged her across the floor to an Italian restaurant that was emitting delectable odors that were truly unfair.

 

"What?" Judith stammered as she was towed along, "No, 'Saw we can't afford the  _bread_ here."

 

"Ah, but we can.  Trust me," Tapeesa hissed out of the side of her mouth, then turned her best high-wattage smile on the hostess as she walked up to the entrance.  "Good afternoon.  Two, please."  Judith's own grin was noticeably more forced as they were led to the table, particularly after they actually saw the menu prices.

 

"Seriously 'Saw, I was joking before about running out on the tab, we don't need to deal with that right now."  She tried to keep her voice low, but urgency began to creep in.  "We're  _squatting_ _right now_ , we can't handle any police attention."

 

" _Relax_ ," Tapeesa almost breathed the word, "I _wasn't_ joking when I said we could afford this, we'll be fine."  Reaching into her pocket, she brought out a money clip and brandished it across the table.  "This is my treat."

 

There had too many larger and more dramatic surprises for this to get a large reaction out of Judith, but her eyes widened regardless and she had to make an effort not to make a grab for the money.  "Where did you get that?  Did you....were your college sneaking-thrills also about pick-pocketing?"

 

"What?   _No!_  I've been helping a lot of the grandparents in our building get their computers working and figure out how to use their e-mail and Facebook for their grandkids."  Tapeesa huffed as she put the money away.  "After I helped Ann by the pool with her iPad the first time, she offered and she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, and since then it's been five or ten dollars every day.  I've been saving it up so that I could spring for a Valentine's Day dinner."

 

"Saving for a Val..." Judith paused mid-word and looked around at the romantic restaurant as though realizing where they were for the first time.  She finally managed to choke out "But...uh...Valentine's Day is tomorrow..."

 

"True, but since we're already here, and since I'm paying, and since it has been  _too long_ since we've managed to have an actual date..." Tapeesa picked up her glass of water and held it out.  "Happy Valentine's Day."

 

Judith felt her own cheeks warming as she took in the entire situation, then she reached over and picked up her own glass, leaning it forward to clink against Tapeesa's.  "Happy Valentine's Day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's something of an awkward bit...I'm actually the one who made that video burning the offensive issue of _Batwoman_ which so offended Asami.  I wanted to finally put something of me into this fanfic, get them to bump into something I've done like they've met people I know throughout their travels, and I originally intended for Asami to _enjoy_ the video (Or at least not be offended by it), but I realized while writing this chapter that Asami would _**hate**_  the concept of burning even a comicbook. Even if it was just one specific issue for one specific reason.  To Asami, who is so focused on knowledge and learning and designing and building, this would have been like a regular-old book burning, offensive to her very being.
> 
> You can watch my video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhAwPypJS18
> 
> I personally have no regrets about making the video, because what they did to Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer was horrible, but dang, Asami looks down on me. There's also a bit of metafiction here, as there's an image of Zuko in the video, but we can just slide on by that.
> 
> * * *
> 
> This chapter was originally supposed to come out _on_ Valentine's Day, since fic-time and real-time are perfectly lined up (Allowing for the year difference), but I...didn't. Sadly there's no story, I just didn't get it finished in time. Drat. Still, happy belated Valentine's Day!
> 
> Tapeesa and Judith are dining at the delicious Carpaccio in the Bal Harbour Shops, one of the preeminent shopping centers.


	133. Chapter 133

As Judith and Korra emerged from the dim hallway into the glaring sun of the early morning, they both turned as as a faint "Hello ladies" call reached them from across the pool deck.  Squinting against the bright light, they caught sight of an older woman waving to them from one of the set chairs, an open book held in her lap.

 

"Good morning Ann," Korra called out to her, "You are out early this morning."  She and Judith began to make their way over to the deck chairs ranged around the pool, angling towards one of the seats next to where Ann was sitting.

 

"I was talking to my grandson today, he's going to be visiting soon and it got me up and moving."

 

"Is that the one who tests the water?" Judith asked as she lowered herself onto the seat.

 

"Yes, he has time off work to visit me, he'll be here in a few weeks."  Watching Judith seat herself, Ann saw Korra kneel down in front of her and began to help her take off her leg braces.  "Are your legs feeling okay?  What are you doing?"

 

Raising her gaze from watching Korra finish laying aside the braces, Judith flashed a smile and said "Trying something different today."  Then, when Korra stood up and held out her hands, Judith reached out, grasped her arms, and leveraged herself up into a standing position.  "Are you ready?" Korra asked, and when Judith nodded tentatively she slowly, gingerly, lowered her arms and took a half-step back, letting Judith stand unsupported.

 

For five seconds Judith just stood there, simply balancing on her own feet without her crutch or leg braces to steady her, then she took a single step forward, paused, then took another.  Slowly working her way down the pool deck, Judith left the leg braces further behind with each step.  Korra followed a half-step behind as she moved, her arms extended in case Judith were to stumble, but her own pose was relaxed and her grin triumphant as she watched Judith begin to circle the pool and trace a large circle back to where she began.

 

Halfway back to the original seat Judith's pace began to slow, and there was a noticeable wobble in her posture, but when Korra stepped forward and reached for her elbow, Judith waved her off.  "No, I can...I can do this."  The time between steps grew greater with each footfall, but she made it back to her starting position alone, sighing with relief as she allowed Korra to help her sit back down.  "Oh, god, does that hurt," she moaned as she rubbed her legs, but there was fierce pride in her voice and her eyes were bright.

 

"That's wonderful, dear" Ann said, smiling herself.  "Was that your first time up?"

 

"For something like that, yes." Judith managed to push out, her eyes falling closed as she leaned back into her seat.  "I took a few steps up in my apartment yesterday, but it's not big enough for more than two or three without hitting a wall, so that was more just standing around.  This was  _walking_ again."  The satisfaction was so thick in her voice Ann could barely understand her.

 

"After my fall, the hardest part was being able to get up again myself," Ann said, looking back into her own memory.  "Then they had me practicing with a walker and cane, and sometimes I walk like an old drunk," she grinned at her own joke, "but what maters is that I  _got up_.  And you did to.  No matter what else, you did that."

 

"Indeed you did," Korra echoed from where she kneeled, helping Judith extend and retract her legs to work out the soreness, "Nothing can take that away."

 

Judith grunted in response, too exhausted to manage more than that, but her grin was still plastered on her face as she relaxed completely into the chair.  "Tomorrow, I'll do  _two_ laps," she said, and she heard Korra chuckle in response.

 

* * *

 

 

Folding the thick winter coats and lying them in her cart on top of the supplies they had already purchased, Tapeesa looked over at Asami and asked "Okay, what else do we need?"

 

"I think that is everything we had planned for today," Asami said, scanning down the list in her hands and marking off the cold-weather clothing, mechanical odds & ends, and miscellaneous equipment they would need when they began heading north again in the coming days.  "The rest of the supplies we need will require more specialized shopping."

 

"Ah, right.  In that case...what time is it?"  Glancing down at her watch, Tapeesa looked up with an excited gleam in her eye.  "Since it's still early, and Judy and Korra aren't expecting us back for a few hours, why don't we splurge a bit and have some fun?"

 

"What  _kind_ of fun?" Asami asked, wariness creeping into her voice at Tapeesa's tone.

 

"What do you mean 'what kind of fun'?  We're at the biggest flea market in the world, let's do some  _shopping_!"  She gestured expansively around them, taking in the acres of covered stalls, tables, and open booths that all displayed countless wares and items for sale.  Around them was the constant sound of price haggling, arguing over quality, and the eternal good-natured battle between buyer and seller as thousands of people swarmed in search of the right deal.  "We haven't even stopped to browse aimlessly today, now that we've got time let's at least wander without a target and see what we stumble upon."  She was almost thrumming with excitement.

 

"Well, I do not know..." Asami said with false restraint, holding out just long enough for Tapeesa to begin to pout.  "Oh, all right.  Let's find something  _special_."  She laughed at the way Tapeesa almost shrieked with delight, then had to turn and follow as Tapeesa dashed down the aisle...well, as fast as she could 'dash' while pushing the cat filled with everything they had already purchased.

 

The two of them window shopped up and down the offered wares for close to an hour, picking up pieces of this-and-that to try on and turn over in their hands and laugh about, before Asami suddenly halted at one stand.  It was just a plan pair of tables set up side-by-side and filled with personal bric-a-brac, not a more official shop or outlet; if Asami had to guess she would say that the operator had been cleaning out his garage and decided it would be better to sell some of the junk instead of just throwing it all out.  However, buried in the old telephones, clocks, and comicbooks, was sticking up what Asami thought looked like the headstock of a guitar.  Old and shabby, but...after the nodded go-ahead from the proprietor she shifted some of the general detritus and pulled out the body of an old wooden acoustic guitar.  The finish was scuffed and it was missing its strings, but as she held and it and remembered back to when Janice had performed for them in her apartment in Montreal, the quiet sounds of peace and the way it had conjured up memories and emotions....

 

Turning back to the proprietor, who was in the midst of a half-shouted argument with Tapeesa over a stack of comics labelled  _Infinite Crisis_ , Asami held up the guitar and asked "How much?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter originally wasn't really supposed to exist in this form, but after last night's episode of _The 100_ I needed to write something simple, and happy, and...and....and still _being_.
> 
> I'm not going to go into details, because I've noticed a lot of crossover in the fandoms between LoK and _The 100_ and I don't want to put in spoilers for people who haven't seen the show yet, but it's...it's....I'm actually pretty tempted to suddenly put this fic on hold and start today a new canon-deviation _The 100_ story that changes last night's episode, releasing a new chapter every week after each episode to say how the upcoming episodes _should_ have gone. In fact....I think I _will_ do that! Not stop this fic I mean, but start that other one to write a continuing parallel story which isn't so....what we got yesterday.
> 
> Are any of you also in the _The 100_ fandom? Would you like something like that?
> 
> * * *
> 
> The flea market Asami and Tapeesa are attending is the Swap Shop in Ft. Lauderdale: http://www.floridaswapshop.com


	134. Chapter 134

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I agonized over the ending to this chapter for a long time, in a half-dozen different ways, because of what happened last week on _The 100_. Ultimately, I didn't change a thing from my original plan, but I had to go back and forth because...because.
> 
> The treatment of LGBT characters in fiction is a serious issue that goes **far** beyond "just a story". In the _The 100_ fandom right now there are people whose battles with depression, with self-doubt and self-hate, have been exacerbated by what happened last week. I don't know details, but I've seen I-heard-from-somebody-who-knows posts that a young woman _lost_ her struggle with depression and attempted suicide. To see only death and destruction come to LGBT characters, to have so few of them even _survive_ their stories that it becomes worthy of note when they _do_ survive, is horrible, it creates an ever-present fear that they somehow _deserve_ such horrible fates. That fear permeates everything around them.
> 
> There is not a death of an LGBT character in this chapter, but there's a _near_ -death, and I used that situation to reveal that this character was gay within the story. Even though he lives, I still apparently felt the need to say "Hey, let's knock him about for a bit first". Not because it is vital to the over-arcing plot of this fic, not because he has done something plot-wise that would merit such an event, but because I thought it'd be a good spot for some drama after several chapters of mainly fluff. That set-up, that rationale....it's not right. It's not right that there are _so many_ dead gay characters that I could have added another mark to the tally and it wouldn't be unexpected or surprising, it would be _how things go_. I think I handle it well enough here, I think I've stayed on the right side of the line, but it goes a lot closer than I'd like, and if I crossed it unintentionally, please let me know.
> 
> To quote the Cosmo Jarvis song "Gay Pirates" (Which, sadly, is itself a tragedy ending in death): “[They] deserve much better than [they've] had”.

"I'll be just out here if you need anything," Korra called as she stepped out on to the balcony, then gently closed the door after Asami's muffled reply come from her bent posture over her new guitar.  Turning to look out towards the ocean, Korra took a deep breath and let her shoulders settle down into relaxation as she confirmed that she could not hear any of Asami's strumming coming from inside the apartment.  Asami had been absolutely  _beaming_ when she brought the instrument home, and Korra had been only too happy to help her string and tune it to precision, but since they had gotten it into playing form Asami had been very....enthusiastic...about learning its use, and by this point there was not much more off-key  _twanging_ Korra could handle without giving in to her urge to smash the guitar against the wall.  Not unless she had a little break first, at least.  She had no doubt that Asami would master it eventually, the memory of watching Asami's nimble dexterity on display as she fiddled with an engine--not to mention other displays of dexterity Korra had been party to--made that very clear, but for right now she enjoyed just having the sound of the wind, the ocean, and the  _thump/bang_ of construction to keep her company.

 

The construction  _thump/bang_ drew her attention away from the ocean, and she turned to overlook the building site where she had been working for weeks now.  From where their apartment was situated she could look down on the entire project, and could trace the movement of the workers even now laboring with their materials.  She was still frustrated at the slow pace of the project as a whole, but she also felt the glow of pride in what she had accomplished.  Not alone, and not as she would have chosen to do it, but still;  _her_.  This was the first real job she had ever had; back when she had been on the Fire Ferrets it had been because she loved Pro-Bending--and, she could admit to herself, because of the crush she had had on Mako from the beginning--she had never needed the prize money or the fame.  Working here she had supported herself and Asami and Joo Dee and Tapeesa, and not through one-off street shows or bending demonstrations, but by monotonous, seemingly-never-ending hard work.  Yesterday had been her last day, they would be leaving the area soon to travel north again now that it had grown warm, and looking down now and being able to see the result of her labors, able to literally track what she had done as construction progressed, had a feeling of accomplishment far divested from saving the world, but important all the same.

 

She was fortunate enough to be staring right at it when one end-section that was still under construction collapsed and tumbled to the ground in a cascade of metal, rock and dust that arced over the fence and collided with two people she saw speaking in the alley between the construction site and her own building.

 

Months of a sedentary, incident-free lifestyle had not dulled her reflexes, and as the dust was still billowing Korra spun around and yanked open the doorway back into the apartment.  Asami was already rising from the couch, the inevitable "What was that?" question forming on her lips, as Korra gestured towards the glider staff that was leaning against the far wall.  As the gust of airbending propelled the staff towards her, Korra was already returning to the door and the balcony.  "There was a collapse next door, I'm going to help," she called over her shoulder as she ran through the doorway, then opened the glider and leapt into the air.

 

Korra was briefly tempted to revel in the sensation of flying again, which she had been far too long without since they needed to not attract any attention while they were remaining in one place, but the sight of settling dust made it easy to quash the temptation.  Angling down, she dove towards the ground and took in the sight of people already swarming around; workers stumbling out of the cloud, others running towards it, and what was already a small mob on the beach crowding close to gawk beyond the fence.  From what she could see there was nobody buried beneath any rubble within the yard itself, and the workers who had been within the cloud were already outside of it, but nobody on the ground seemed to realize that there had been anybody in the alleyway; nobody was looking in that direction or moving to help.  Sighting a clear patch, she fell quickly.

 

Dropping to the ground, Korra blinked against the heavy dust still swirling in the air, then collapsed the glider and spun it over her head, circling the air and clearing out the area.  Glancing down, she saw that one of the two people she had seen in the alley had apparently escaped being buried in the debris.  He was blinking to clear the dust out of his eyes, and there was a bleeding gash along his temple, but he was sitting up next to one of the piles, and with a start Korra realized that it was Raúl.  "Raúl?   _Estás bien_?"

 

"Korra?"  His voice was slurred, and even as he continued to blink to clear his eyes his gaze was wandering, unfocused.  " _Que esta pasando_?"

 

" _Hubo un accidente_ ," she said, " _Quién estaba contigo_?"

 

" _Un accidente? Lo accidente?_ "  Raúl's gaze was still darting around, " _Lo que haces ... ¡Dios mío , yo y Iganacio fuera ..._ " He lurched to his feet and stumbled to the pile next to him, trying to drag off the first lump he could get his hand on and collapsing to his knees with a groan.

 

"Igncaio?  But where..."  Realizing what Raúl was trying to do, Korra guided him back into a sitting position and turned to the pile, eyeing it herself.  The thought of exposure whispered in the back of her mind, but she dismissed it without even needing to shake her head with the much louder voice of a friend buried, probably hurt.  Dropping her staff, she settled into a deep earthbending stance--Korra did not know what it was like underneath the pile, she wanted traditional, rock-hard stability in case it was loose--and reached up.  She gave an afterthought to keeping the rumble down to not attract attention, but her main focus was on steadiness and smoothness as she tried to free Ignacio.

 

" _Mierda, qué diablos está pasando_!?!" Raúl likely would have been shouting at the floating rock and metal if he had had the energy, but his scratchy hiss conveyed the emotion regardless.  Then his expression transferred to elation as the rubble lifted high enough for him to catch sight of Ignacio, flat on his back but with his eyes open.

 

"Do not move," Korra said as she saw Raúl begin to twitch again, nearly falling onto his side.  "I will help him."  Shifting the rubble off to the side, Korra set it down to the ground again and stepped forward, crouching down beside Ignacio and beginning to tend to him.   Korra drew water to her and began to work a waterbending healing, relaxing slightly when she heard distant sirens begin to approach.

 

"Korra!" Asami's shout came to Korra from down the alley, and then running feet stopped next to her and Asami knelt beside her.  "How is he?"

 

"I think he's going to be okay, but I can feel a lot of broken bones, I don't think I can handle this all right now.  I'll keep him stable until the ambulances arrive.  Check on Raúl."  She nodded towards the other man, whose gaze had begun to focus, but was still wobbling even though seated.  " _Esta es_ Asami, _que es un amigo_ ," she said as Asami crouched down beside Raúl and began to tenderly inspect the long gash on his head, then began to clean and bandage it.

 

As the ambulances began to arrive, most parking directly in front of the main entrance to the primary worksite, Asami flagged one down and waved the attendants over to where Korra was now ministering to Raúl.  As his eyes cleared and comprehension began to return to his features he looked at Korra with the same mixture of awe and fear that she had come to expect when people saw her bending abilities in this world, but to her surprise they dropped away quickly and were replaced with base relief as soon as he saw the medical workers attending to Ignacio.  " _Gracias. Muchas gracias_ ," he said to her, not taking his eyes off of Ignacio, and shambled over to where he was being lifted onto a rolling stretcher.  " _Un momento, por favor_ ," he begged, and then leaned forward to lay a single tender kiss of Ignacio's lips.  " _Por favor, cuidar de él._ "

 

"We will," responded the medic, then began to wheel Ignacio towards the waiting ambulance while another turned to Raúl and began to inspect his injuries.

 

Off to the side, seeing everything taken in hand by the responding authorities, Korra and Asami quickly walked off of the property and back to their own building, now allowing themselves to wonder about who might have seen them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have, inevitably I suppose, created a tumblr account: <http://jbk405.tumblr.com>
> 
> I'm still figuring out what to do with it, how it works and what I should say, but come by and say "hi".


	135. Chapter 135

"Shouldn't we be hurrying just a  _little bit faster_?" Tapeesa hissed through her teeth as she helped Korra and Asami carry their luggage to the elevator.  "The Marines might be circling the block right now!"

 

"Calm down," Asami soothed as the 'down' arrow lit up with a light  _ding_ , "We checked YouTube and nothing went viral overnight."

 

"You can't say 'nothing went viral' after searching for half an hour, the internet is a big place!" Tapeesa kept her voice low to not be overheard while they piled into the elevator, "Just because  _we_ couldn't find anything about a flying girl who lifted rocks off a trapped person doesn't mean the military couldn't!  Maybe it was on tumblr instead!  Or Vimeo!  Twitter!"

 

Korra did not quite roll her eyes, but her expression conveyed the annoyance regardless.   In the day since she had pulled Ignacio out from underneath the collapsed rubble, Korra, Asami, Tapeesa and Joo Dee had made ready to depart their temporary abode.  They had cleaned the apartment as best they could so as to not make things  _too_ difficult when its owners came back, and left what money they could to cover the costs of what they had used.  They had collected and packed the supplies and equipment they had purchased in preparation for this eventual leaving, and had even said their goodbyes to their neighbors whom they had come to know.  Now they just needed to bring the last of their bags down to the car and they would be on the road again.  "Most of the attention was focused on the building site itself and the damage there, you could not even see where we were from the beach.  Unless somebody was standing right at the entrance of the alley you could not see us unless you were on a balcony in our own building looking straight down."

 

"And what if they  _were_?   **You** were!  I'm sure a hundred people came on to their balconies to see what was going on when they heard the rumble."  Tapeesa's agitation was growing, and Korra reflected that--despite everything that had happened--this was the first time that Tapeesa had needed to flee from her home--even a temporary one--in fear of being discovered.  Their journey across this nation had been at their own pace and generally free of pursuit, and this flight, even if it was planned and leisurely flight, was probably bringing to the forefront all of her fears and doubts about their situation.

 

"Yes, I was, but I flew from our balcony to the ground in only a few seconds.  I doubt somebody inside their apartment had time to come out after the collapse and start recording before I had landed."  The elevator _ding_ ed again as they reached the lobby, and Korra continued as they crossed the marble.  "So we're going to be  _okay_.  We're leaving anyway, and by not panicking we do not lose all the equipment and supplies we have been getting ready for exactly this trip."  Turning to the side of the hallway to exit, Korra saw Joo Dee waving at them through the glass-fronted entryway and aimlessly waved back.

 

"But, it's just..."  Tapeesa's agitation was still clear, and Asami stopped walking to turn Tapeesa to face her directly.  "It is going to be okay.  Trust me."  Asami spoke calmly and quietly, and after a few seconds Tapeesa blinked and looked away, nodding her head and forcing out a small, creaky smile.

 

Grinning herself, Korra turned back towards the exit.  "Besides, this is a beautiful day!  We are starting on the road again, we will see even more over this nation.  New people to meet, new experiences.  Don't let these concerns cast a cloud over our last day here; hasn't it been fun?"

 

"Yeah...yeah, it has."  Tapeesa's weak smile firmed up as they stepped out into the warm and bright morning air and Joo Dee walked over to join them.  It really  _was_ a beautiful day, clear blue skies and a shining sun; the kind of days that were meant for either lounging on the beach or driving with the top down.

 

"Good, now, since nobody knows we're here and we took care of everything, we can--"

 

" **KORRA!"** The shout came from behind her and was as loud as any voice she had heard which did not have airbending supporting it, and Korra instantly began to spin to face whatever threat had chosen  _this specific moment_ to announce itself, and only kept herself from hurling a giant boulder at the running figure she saw when she realized that it belonged to Esteban.  Before she could even get out a question he had collided with her and enfolded her into a hug so tight she briefly thought it might have been an attack after all.  " _Mi niña hermosa_ , how can I ever thank you?  Raúl told me that you were the one to get Ignacio out from under the rocks yesterday.  You saved my boy's life."  If possible his grip grew even tighter, and Korra thought she might need to fight him anyway in simple self defense, but then it slackened enough for her to breathe again.  "Thank you.  Thank you  **so** much."

 

Korra labored for breath after she was released, but she tried to project a comforting acceptance until she could speak again.  "Ignacio is going to be okay?"

 

"Yes, he's going to be fine, just a few broken bones, and that's good for a boy his age.  When you're young you're supposed to get into trouble.  Although I'm not sure if I trust his doctors, they were talking about other breaks that had just been healed recently and he hasn't been hurt like that before.  But it's all thanks to  _you_ ," He moved like he was going to sweep her into another hug, but Korra saw it coming this time and evaded by turning to introduce Asami.

 

"This is Asami," Korra said as she pulled her close enough to disrupt the crushing embrace, "She helped me yesterday."

 

"Ah, the angel Raúl spoke about.  Thank you as well."  Esteban still twitched as though he wanted to hug again, but Korra and Asami were too close together to make it easy, so he grasped her hands instead and pumped furiously.  "I don't know what I could have done if you hadn't been there, if he had just been  _stuck_ until somebody had bothered to try and help in an hour....I can never thank you enough."

 

"Where is Ignacio now?" Asami asked, reclaiming her arms from his grip.

 

"Still at the hospital, but he should be coming home soon.  Raúl is keeping him company when I said I was going to come here and thank you myself.  It's good to have a friend close by and those two have been inseparable for the past few days, I'm glad he is there."  Esteban finally seemed to take notice of the bags that they were carrying and blinked at the two of them.  "Are you going somewhere?"

 

"Yes, actually. We are leaving."  Korra shuffled her feet, despite her soothing words to Tapeesa she did not want to actually leave information on where they were heading in case questions followed them and had hoped to quietly slip away.  She had already said her goodbyes to the work crew when she left on her final day.  "We are going to visit family out of state."

 

"What?  No, you can't leave.  Luciana was going to cook you something special tonight, and we were going to have you over again when Ignacio is out of the hospital.  You didn't just save him, you saved our whole family.  When will you be back?"

 

"I...I am not sure when we will be back," Korra forced out, uncomfortable with telling a bald lie about making plans for the future, "it is far away and we will be making many stops."

 

Esteban looked ready to pursue the issue, to nail down _exactly_ when she would be returning so she could be showered in all the praise and thanks and food he could offer, but as he opened his mouth he seemed to sense that she did not want to be pushed, so he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay.  Whenever you are back let me know, we'll throw you the biggest party you've ever seen."

 

"Okay," Korra said, even though she knew that in all likelihood she would never return to Florida, and as Esteban turned to leave she reached and pulled him into a hug of her own before he could go.  "Take care of yourself, Esteban, and take care of Ignacio.  Raúl as well, he is a very nice boy."

 

"Yes, yes he is," Esteban agreed, with tears just barely glistening in his eyes, then he backed away from Korra and nodded to Asami.  "It was very nice to meet you. Thank you, and God bless.  Good luck on your travels," and he turned and walked back to the street.  Watching him go, Korra felt herself begin to tear up as well, but she shook it away and turned back to the car, where Tapeesa and Joo Dee had waited unobtrusively.

 

"Are we all set?" She asked as she walked over, carrying her final bag.

 

"Yup, valet is taken care of and everything," Joo Dee said.  "We can hit the road."

 

Turning around, Korra took one last look at the high-rise tower that had been home for the past three months, then smiled as she felt Asami lean against her and rest her arm across her shoulders.  As nice as this place had been, 'home' was coming right along with her, and she was eager to see what else this world had to hold.  And then, after she saw what else was here...  Korra and Asami were heading north not just because it was growing warm again, but because the next solstice was coming in only three months over the North Pole.  Because they needed to get closer, and learn what the Canadian government knew about the phenomenon, and gain access themselves.  Because, in a few months, they were going back to their own world.

 

Piling into the car, jauntily waving at the wide-eyed stare of the driver of another car that was pulling in just as they were leaving, they pulled out onto the roadway and roared towards the future.


	136. Chapter 136

As their car crept up a lonely mountain road, Korra craned her neck to look around, shaking her head.  "I think those guys were just messing with you, there's nobody up here."  She let herself fall back into her seat and almost closed her eyes, but her gaze was drawn by the sight of the streetlights washing over Asami's face.  "They just wanted to impress you."

 

"Maybe, but I don't think so.  Trust me on this one, they knew what they were talking about."  Asami kept her eyes on the road, but Korra could still see their gleam in the streetlights, and when Asami caught her look out of the corner of her eye she let the edge of her lip quirk up.  "Besides, even if they **were** 'messing with me', I've got a nice scenic drive in this quiet country, in the company of a beautiful woman, all alone out here...not exactly a wasted evening no matter what."

 

Korra's blush would have been impossible to see in the strobing streetlights even if Asami had been able to look at her directly, but she knew that Asami could tell it was there regardless.  "Well, when you put it like  _that_ , I suppose you might have a point," she said, and laughed as Asami's smirk expanded into a full-body grin.

 

"I knew you'd see it my way," Asami purred, and was about to begin scanning the ride of the roadway for a shoulder or turnoff she could pull on to, when she finally caught sight of what she had been looking for.  Parked just inside a side road that branched off of the main street was a car with a small group of people leaning against it, talking amongst themselves and eyeing their own car as they drove up.  The car itself was so bright as to almost be garish with paint and decals, nearly glowing despite the dark night, and as she took in the sight of it and the loungers she knew they had reached the right place.  "Hey, Korra, there it is," she pointed the car out before slowing for the turn, then slowing completely to a stop as she saw a pair of the loungers begin to walk over.  "Good evening," she called.

 

"G'evenin'," one of them responded, who quickly glanced over Korra and Asami before turning his gaze to their car as he began to visually trace over its body, "What can we do for you tonight?"

 

Reassured at the way his eyes seemed to be instinctively drawn down to the car, Asami grinned and said, "I heard there was a race tonight."

 

* * *

 

The crowd at the top of the hill was not exactly enormous, but as Asami crested the last rise and the road leveled out she picked out more than a half-dozen vehicles that were almost certainly racers.  Two of them had their hoods raised, with inquiring heads leaned in for inspection, and the rest had onlookers clustered around them.  There was a wide, flat parking lot off to the side ("Scenic Overlook" the sign at the start of the road had advertised) which was half-filled with cars, but the crowd was clustered away from them, and they were probably just the transportation that the audience had used on their way up the hill.  Glancing back and forth between the crowds, Asami let out a small sigh as she pulled off to the side and parked next to the rest of the cars that had been left behind.  Just as she was about to shut off the engine, there was a sudden simultaneous roar from two other engines, and Asami caught sight of two cars on the far end of the crowd suddenly leap out of sight down the road which exited down the other side of mountain.  A smattering of cheers, and more than a few jeers, filled the air as the machine roar faded, and Asami's grin blossomed again.

 

"Are you sure you don't want to give it a shot?" Korra asked as they climbed out, stretching her arms over her head as she did to work out a crick.  "You could probably give these weekend riders a surprise or two."

 

Pausing long enough to take in the sight of Korra's taut arc, Asami shook her head. "Maybe I could, but unless you're more interested in a danger adrenaline rush than reaching the finish line, you don't race down a dark mountain road at night when you've never even driven the road before.  Besides, this baby isn't a racer."  Reaching down, Asami let one finger trace across the curve of the hood just before the driver's door, and then a mischievous glimmer sparkled in her eye as she glanced at Korra.  "At least, not  **this** kind of racer," she said, as memories of their escape from police pursuit in Louisiana ran through her thoughts.  "I'm just here to watch."

 

"If you say so," Korra shrugged, then noticed that several of the people that had been clustered around the closest of the show-cars had turned their heads as they drove by, and some had begun to walk over.  "But I don't think they'd mind."

 

Letting out a low whistle, the young man at the head of the group stopped a few feet away and held up his hands in front of his eyes, framing their car between them.  "That is a  **beauty** ," he said, almost reverently.  "1965?"

 

"1963," Asami corrected, leaning back against the car as Korra took up position next to her.  "Third generation Thunderbird."

 

The same man whistled again, longer and more drawn out, and gestured towards the hood as the people who had followed him over began to cluster about.  "May I?" he asked, taking a half-step forward before he had even finished.  Asami glanced at Korra out of the corner of her eye, just enough to see Korra's smirk, before nodding her head.  "Sure, let me pop the hood," she said as the small crowd gathered around, then was nearly buried as they all tried their best to jockey for a close enough position to see into the engine.

 

The group that had come over to their car was not particularly numerous, with most of the attendees still over at the vehicles that were lining up for their own turn down the mountain, but as they squeezed together Korra let herself be pushed out to the side.  She had fond memories of spending time at the garage back in _Ville de Moores_ , and with Asami's lessons she had grown comfortable enough to drive herself easily and freely, but she still did not have the same passion for engines and engineering that ran through Asami's veins, and apparently through everybody else here as well.  She was content to let them dig into their elbows while she took a step back and leaned against one of the other cars that had been parked  nearby, just watching Asami show off the fruits of her labors.

 

She almost jumped when a voice practically in her ear asked "Got a light?" and she twitched to the side, nearly spinning away, as she realized that another women had taken position next to her without her even realizing it.  She was holding up a cigarette and smiling at Korra with a slightly bemused expression, and Korra belatedly realized that she had been asking for help lighting the cigarette.  "Oh, right," Korra said, and reached up with her right hand as the other woman leaned forward, sparking a small flame into existence that the other woman leaned into.  "Sorry, I didn't realize you were there, I was a little distracted."

 

Glancing over to where the others had their heads buried in the engine, and Asami could be seen bent over the hood pointing to this-and-that, the woman's expression transformed from bemusement to a distinctly knowing smile.  "No worries," she said, then leaned back to take a long draw off her cigarette, holding it in before she tilted her head up and puffed it up towards the sky.  "A night like this, it's easy to get lost."  Across the lot there was a sudden loud roar of engines, accompanied by the same cheers and jeers as before, and Korra just caught sight of two more cars darting down the roadway side-by-side.  "They're just getting started," the woman beside her said, then took another deep drag before sticking out her arm.  "I'm Effessel."

 

"Korra," she said, taking the offered hand, then nodded towards the different groups of people fixated on engines all around them, taking in their own absence by implication.  "You're not interested in cars?"

 

"Oh, I  **love** the speed," Effessel almost purred, "but I'm not a greasemonkey.  Who cares what an engine  _looks_ like?  It's how it  _moves_ that matters."  She pointed across the lot, to where three or four people were talking around one of the cars that were there for the racing.  "That's my baby over there, she moves like you wouldn't  **believe**.  Rides so smooth you can't even feel it, but when she roars....you  _feel_ it."  She beamed, and the glow from the end of her cigarette flared brighter.  "But since I'm waiting for Barn for my race, and I saw you over here leaning against Jimmy's Jeep as everybody else tried to climb into your friend's ride, I thought I'd come say 'hi'."  Effessel leaned forward, so she was just a  _little_ bit closer to Korra, and quietly breathed out the word "hi", blowing out a ring of smoke to caress the word as she did.

 

Korra started to say "hi" in return, and it was going to be as quiet as Effessel had spoken, but as she inhaled prior to speaking she took in the burst of smoke, and her words came out as ragged cough.  A ragged cough enhanced by airbending, which knocked the cigarette from Effessel's lips and flung her hair back as Korra expunged the smoke from her lungs and nearly doubled over.

 

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry," Effessel said, raising her arm to knock Korra on the back, then aborting the motion halfway through, "I didn't....is there anything I can do?  Do you have an inhaler?"

 

"Korra?  Are you okay?" Effessel spun around as Asami pushed through the crowd to Korra's side, and her eyes widened as she saw the way Korra leaned against her.

 

"No, I'm okay," Korra said, now breathing normally, "Just inhaled a little smoke."  She coughed again, but as it was not a surprise she was able to keep herself from emitting a hurricane gust as she did.  "Ah, Asami, this is Effessel, she's here for a race."

 

"Oh, hello," Asami said, nodding politely while keeping her arm wrapped around Korra's shoulders.

 

"Hey," Effessel's glance darted back and forth between Korra and Asami, then settled down and she took a half-step back and leaned against the car again.  "Nice car," she said, nodding towards the Thunderbird, "why aren't you putting it on the road?"

 

"I'm just here to watch tonight," Asami explained.  "We're just passing through town, I don't know your roads.  Besides, she's great, but she's not geared for this type of challenge."  As if to punctuate her sentence, another pair of cars took off down the mountain road, the sound of screaming engines echoing.  "No need to try and force her to be something she isn't."

 

"Just passing through town, eh?  How'd you find us then?"  The question came from behind them, and before Korra or Asami could turn around a young man walked around them and draped his arm over Effessel's shoulder, leaning in to quickly kiss her on the cheek.

 

"Jesus, Barn, where've you  **been**?  I've been waiting for an hour."  Effessel's tone was scornful, but she could not keep a stern expression on her face as she fought a smile and playfully jabbed him in the ribs.

 

"Sorry, I got held up at work.  Ricky called out sick so I had to close, and a family came in ten minutes before time."  At a second jab from Effessel elbow he shimmied to the side, away from her, and turned back to face Korra and Asami.  "Hey, Barn, how's it going?" He stuck out both arms at once across his chest, letting Korra and Asami each shake a hand, then said "So, what's the story?  How did you stumble on our little nest of wild street children?"

 

"We were having dinner in town and began to speak to some of the locals about cars," Asami started to explain, but Korra then burst in; "It was two guys who were trying to impress Asami, they wanted to look like they are involved in the racing so they were talking big."

 

" **Anyway** ," Asami said, nudging Korra, "They mentioned that people met up here most Friday nights and I thought we'd come by.  Our friends had wanted to see a movie, so they had plans, and it sounded like fun.  We've been driving across the country, but it's still nice to see dedicated racing."

 

"Are you sure you don't want to take a ride down the mountain?" Barn asked, eyeing their car.

 

Asami did not even need to turn around and look at their car again, she simply shook her head.  "No, as I've said I'm not familiar with your roads, and this is not designed for this kind of racing anyway.  I will drive down at the end of the evening, but that will be it."

 

"Pity," Barn said, then turned back to Effessel, "But we've got a date to finally settle things, don't we?  It's about time to crown the King of the Mountain."

 

Effessel scoffed, actually  _scoffed_ , but turned to follow him.  "Yes, it **is** time that the Queen of the Mountain got her time to shine."  They laughed together, and started to walk off, but Effessel suddenly stopped and turned back to Asami.  "Hey, it makes sense that you stay off the road tonight, I get that.  But if you **do**  want a chance to get behind the wheel and cut loose, stop by the speedway tomorrow.  I'm at work from opening, so come by any time after ten."  She dug into her pocket and pulled out a business card, passing it to Asami before turning around and following Barn towards the cars parked near the roadway that lead to the local unofficial racetrack.

 

Glancing down, Asami read on the card the words Autobahn Indoor Speedway written in red and white letters, for indoor Go Kart Racing.  Looking up at Korra, Asami split into a grin and said, "Hey, we didn't have any plans for tomorrow".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is halfway inspired by the webcomic _Misfile_ , which also much more directly inspired the New Year's kiss in chapter 128. _Misfile_ spends a lot of time on Ash and his racing experiences, and I like the setup the local racing community has of going down their mountain road in pairs without fanfare or extravagant organization. The street-racing community of _The Fast & The Furious_ is ridiculous, with a hundred people blocking off city streets, coordinated driving, etc., all from people who aren't even in the actual race. I actually liked _The Fast & The Furious_ (Although the thought that there are people born after it came out that can, in certain US jurisdictions, legally drive right now is a sobering thought and makes me feel even older), but I wasn't going to try and create that kind of community here. So, a bunch of college-age people meeting up on top of a mountain outside of a town makes a lot more sense.
> 
> For those tracking K&A's cross-country journey, right now the gang is outside of Manassas, VA in the Bull Run Mountains. Autobahn Indoor Speedway doesn't actually open until 2016, so right now it's just a construction site, but we can forigve this bit of time travel, right? Also, for the curious, the movie Tapeesa and Judith were seeing was _Chappie_.
> 
> Part of this chapter just came to me as I was writing it and Effessel started smoking: A person smoking a cigarette can be one of the most visually erotic images, filled with so much implied sexuality and desire and lust, and I'll fully admit that that visual can definitely work on me. You see this in movies and TV shows and pictures and even described in text. However, despite how sexy it looks (And it can look very @#$%ing sexy), to a non-smoker the odor of a cigarette still smells completely revolting. Just horrific. My current celebrity crush could walk up to me half-naked and I'd still need to take a step back if they were smoking (Well....maybe a half-step). So, as Effessel lit up, I just had this mental thought of her being Super Sexy and Seductive, only for Korra to start gagging as she tried to pill her signature move.
> 
> I was also half-inspired by this bit of Asami fanart by deviantart user WHATfantasy. Kinda thinking "What if the two of them ran into _this_ Asami tonight?":
> 
> That bit of art was itself inspired by the "beginners" fanfic by possibilist, which is pretty freaking amazing, if sadly unfinished. You can find it here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3204878/chapters/6970082


	137. Chapter 137

"She's going the distance!" Tapeesa semi-sang as they approached the entrance, "She's going for speeeeeed!"  She did a little leg-shake that was clearly meant to evoke running, and even leaned forward as if about to take off sprinting.

 

"She's gonna be all alone if she doesn't knock that off," Judith chimed in, "Even in her time of need."  She had timed her interruption perfectly, just as Tapeesa was about to start the next verse, and Tapeesa almost stumbled as the break-in shattered her groove.  Grinning, Judith continued, "Besides, at  _this_ speed we're not going to get there for almost a year," and continued her slow pace towards the Autobahn Indoor Speedway.

 

"Yeah, but just you wait until you're behind the wheel.  Pedal to the metal and all that, tearing up the speedway, just the open road in front of you..." Tapeesa raised her arms as she spoke and waved as if gesturing at a grand vista.  "At least until the wall, anyway."

 

Judith chuckled, and kept her eyes on the approaching doorway.  "What did Korra say her name was, again?"

 

"Effeffel, I think?"  Tapeesa half-shrugged as she gave the unsure answer, "From what Korra said we can't miss her, just look for the leather and mascara."

 

"I'll make sure to do that," Judith said, her tone including an implicatory wink all by itself, and she reached out to open the door before Tapeesa could grab the handle for her.  "After you".

 

As they walked inside, a bright smile approximately a mile wide greeted them from over a counter and a cheerful voice chirped, "Good morning, and welcome to Autobahn Indoor Speedway.  What can I do for you today?"

 

"Good morning, four...uh...tickets?  I guess?"  Tapeesa glanced around the counter displays, briefly unsure.  "This our first time here.  How does it work?  Do we just rent a kart or...?"

 

"Come on in, we've got a few different options for whatever you're looking for."  The woman's smile did not diminish in the least as she spoke, and she waved them over to a banner that apparently lay out the costs.  "If it's your first time you'll need to each need a license, but don't worry, they're only $6 and they're good for a year.  If you just want one race today, it's $19.99 each, or three for $50."  She apparently did not notice they way Judith and Tapeesa's eyes had widened at the cost, because she said continued without a break.  "If you want five races it's $75, and $100 for eight.  Each race gives you 14 laps around the track, and you get the helmet and safety gear included.  You said there were four of you?"

 

"Uh...yeah.  Two of us are parking the car, they should be here in a minute, but..."  Judith heard the door open behind her, probably Korra and Asami catching up to them after they had dropped Judith and Tapeesa off near the entrance, but she did not turn around to look as she instead wondered how they could gracefully back out of the shop without it being  _too_ awkward.  With the money Korra and Tapeesa had made down in Florida they were in better shape financially than they had been for most of their trip, and the night before they had all agreed that spending a few bucks would be worth it for some relaxation and fun, but they hadn't considered that it would be close to a hundred dollars.  Judith had come in thinking it would have been in the area of $25 or $30 total, not (She did some quick mental arithmetic) $93.99 for only one race each.  The eight-race package would only increase the total to $124, but that was still more than they had to spare.  They would have to skip a meal (Or two) if they stayed.

 

"Great.  How many races did you want?"  She was already reaching beneath the counter for paperwork.  "If you take the five- or eight-race package the races don't expire, so if you don't use them all today you can come back again."

 

"Could you give us a minute?" Tapeesa gave Judith the head-nod to step back with her, and she was going to try and politely back out of the uncomfortable situation, when she heard Asami call them from behind and walk up to them.  "Sorry we took so long, we could not find any parking.  Ah, hello Effessel."

 

"Oh, hey Ahs--Asami.  Glad you could make it.  Are you four together?"  The woman gave a small wave to Asami and Korra, and her high-wattage professional smiled dimmed to something a little more natural.  Reconciling the black leather-description they had received with the overtly peppy woman before them, Tapeesa and Judith glanced down and saw that her name-tag confirmed that she apparently was the racer that Korra and Asami had bumped into the night before.

 

"Yes, we are, these are our friends Tapeesa and Joo Dee," Asami introduced them.  "They could not come with us last night, but when I told them you had invited us today..."

 

"Excellent, I was just giving them the details."

 

"About that..." Judith broke in, "This is a little bit pricier than we had expected.  We're on a fixed budget for our trip, and we don't really have the cash to spare."

 

"Oh."  Effessel looked back and forth between them, then surreptitiously glanced around.  "Well, it could be that we're running some specials today, maybe a 2-for-1 racer deal."  Her wink was so comically exaggerated that Korra could not stop a chuckle, but it stopped short of a full laugh when she saw that Tapeesa and Judith had not laughed as well.

 

Judith was about to say that they needed to talk it over--$50 was certainly a lot closer to their expected costs than $100--when the door behind them banged open.  Not swung open, but  _banged_ open, as though whoever was coming in had wanted to see how hard they could slam it into the wall.  A loud shout came through as well, and she turned around to see the lead skinhead pause to spit on the pavement outside before leading his troupe of followers inside.

* * *

 

Korra swung around as she heard the crash of the door, and caught sight of the newcomers a second before she heard Effessel mutter "Oh, for Christsake, not these assholes again.  Gimme a sec."  Then Effessel was walking towards the head of the counter with a broad smile, but which looked more like a grimace rather than something of actual pleasure and which Korra could tell was artificial.  The newcomers themselves reached the head of the counter after Effessel, but continued to speak loudly amongst themselves before turning to acknowledge her.  As she swung back, Korra noticed that Tapeesa was looking at the newcomers, hard, and Joo-Dee was  **not** looking at them just as hard.

 

"Do you know them?" Asami asked quietly.

 

"You could say that," Joo-Dee said, just as quietly, and with an emotion in the back of her throat that Korra had never heard from her before.  "How much of our history have you read?"

 

"Some," Asami said, "But there's a lot that we have not been able to get to for your entire world.  We have focused on the recent periods, and...oh..."  Her words wound down, and Korra found herself inspecting the group more closely.  Several of them were covered in tattoos, and while a few contained English words, more of the markings were in various shapes and patterns that seemed almost familiar.  They looked similar to icons from Air Nomad history, symbols that she had studied with Tenzin that represented permanence and good fortune, but these were...cruder, somehow.  Not just the tattoos themselves, which looked more like stains on the skin instead of the intricate artistry she had seen with body art back home, but even the designs were more base.  Just looking at them told Korra that they did not stand for auspiciousness and that which existed since time eternal.  What they  _did_ stand for she could not tell, but whatever it was it clearly meant something strong to Joo-Dee and Tapeesa.

 

"Maybe we should go," Korra suggested, but Joo-Dee shook her head before she was even finished.  "Not for  _them_ ," Joo-Dee said, and Korra heard the same underlay as before.  Before she could say anything else, Effessel came back over to them, and Korra glanced over her should to see that the group at the counter had progressed into the active interior, albeit still shouting to each other loud enough for her to track them.

 

"Sorry about that," Effessel said, "they think they're real hot on the track, and I've got to hold their hands every time they come by.  This is the third time they've been in this month."

 

"You can't lock 'em out?" Tapeesa asked, and unlike Joo-Dee she did not make much of an effort to suppress the heat in her voice.  Effessel, however, just shrugged her shoulders and said "Boss likes money.  So, I'm stuck with them.  You wanna know the worst part?"  Before anybody could respond she continued, "The whole lot of them are  _shit_.  Anybody from up on the hill could drive circles around them.  Barn would lap 'em without even trying, and if it was  _me_ I'd lap 'em twice.  But Boss doesn't let us drive while we're working, so they get to keep thinking that they're hot stuff."

 

"Why do you not face them on the hill, then?" Asami asked.

 

"'Cause then we'd have to  _deal_ with them on the hill, and  _nobody_ wants that.  We've got a good thing up there, and we don't want it ruined with that trash." She shrugged again, much the same way as she had before.  "I'd rather have to put up with them when I'm getting paid than on my own time."

 

Asami glanced towards the track and back again before she asked, "Are there any other customers who could beat them?"

 

"Sure, we've got plenty of regulars who've got skills, but a lot of them don't want to make an issue of it.  Georgie's the kind of tool who might not let a loss stay on the track, and your average Bobby from down the block doesn't want to deal with that."  This time her shrug was noticeably more frustrated.  "What I wouldn't give for somebody to put him in his place."

 

Asami glanced back and forth again, then a small smile crooked up one corner of her mouth.  "Would you like to see that today?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp! Can it truly be? Do I return from beyond the veil? It would seem so. Much love to everybody who has kept asking about where I've been and when the next update would be, every time I saw somebody say they wanted to read more I reaffirmed my commitment to _finishing this story!_ And so, here we are.
> 
> In the opening to this chapter Tapeesa (And Judith) are quoting the song "The Distance" by Cake. **I** , however, was quoting Sydney Scoville.
> 
> You can see an AMV of the song here, this video is made from the anime _Redline_ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clp8dUWi6Mo
> 
> Judith and Tapeesa's reaction to the high prices was actually close to my own reaction when I looked into how much it does cost to race at AIS. Thinking about it, it makes sense that this would cost more than a movie ticket and I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but when I saw that it was $20 for a single race my jaw dropped.


	138. Chapter 138

Before she even reached the first turn, Asami realized that Effessel had been correct: Of the group that had come into the raceway and begun making a scene ("Skinheads" Joo Dee had called them), the whole lot of them really  _were_ horrible racers.

 

Half of them slowed almost to a crawl before they entered the turn, and the other half slowed down  _during_ the turn.  By the time their entire tangled mess managed to straighten itself out and pull on to the straightaway, Asami was halfway down the track and fighting to hold back her laughter.  Since there were very few other racers on the track at the time -- Asami noticed that a lot of the people that had been on the track when the group arrived seemed to "coincidentally" choose that time to get something to eat or use the restroom -- that left her with an almost unobstructed stretch of roadway and easy driving.  Even when the skinheads tried to work together to block her as she came back around, assuming their confused and disorganized swerving motions were meant to be a coordinated effort, they were almost comically easy to circumvent.

 

When she finished her fourteenth loop a few minutes later, she had not lapped them the two times Effessel had predicted:  She had lapped them  _four_ times.  Easily.  If she had decided to push it, it would have been five.

 

Pulling off the track, Asami saw that Effessel was loosing the struggle to hold her composure as Korra was energetically talking -- almost shouting -- at her.  Tapeesa and Joo Dee were visibly shaking where they sat, laughing so hard that they were almost soundless.  Trying to retain her own composure, Asami pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair, tucking the helmet under her arm as she casually walked over and asked, "So, how'd I do?"

 

The first answer she got was Tapeesa and Joo Dee collapsing into full-body laughter again.  Effessel shrugged and tried to give a deadpan "I guess you did okay", but her voice broke halfway through and she waved them off as she stumbled back towards the front counter and the family that had just walked in, snickering under her breath.  Tapeesa and Joo Dee only laughed harder as they watched her go.  Korra was the first to pull herself together as she walked over and leaned in to kiss Asami on the cheek, then said "I think we can call that a win".

 

Asami was about to respond when she heard a concerted noise of engines and turned to see the group of skinheads all pull off together and instantly leap out of their go-karts.  Or rather, she saw them  _try_ to leap out of the seats, but since several of them had apparently forgotten that they were strapped in she instead saw them struggle with their seat belts and then awkwardly clamber upright after untangling themselves.  One of them -- 'Georgie', Effessel has called him -- seemed to be haranguing the rest of the group, and Asami felt her shoulders tighten as she saw him turn and lead the others purposefully towards them.  "Be ready," she heard Korra say to Tapeesa and Joo Dee behind them, "I think this is going to be another one of  _those_ encounters".

 

"Didn't we originally come here to relax?" Asami muttered aside to Korra.  "Don't look at me," Korra muttered back, "I'm not the one who just drove circles around them."  Asami could still hear the amusement in Korra's tone, but before she could say anything in response the group stopped in front of them.

 

Surprisingly, it was not Georgie who spoke first.  "Yo, that was...that was amazing," said one of the other skinheads, and the rest of the group murmured in agreement.  "You a pro?"

 

Asami was taken off-guard at the apparently sincere compliment.  "No.  Well, yes.....not really.  I do not drive professionally, but I have had lots of practice against those who do."

 

"Cool, cool.  I've never seen  _anybody_ drive like that."  It was somebody else in the group who spoke this time, and he was again accompanied by head nods and support from the rest.  "Nobody around here can really put up much of a challenge."

 

"Thank you," Asami said, still a little off-balance at the friendly conversation.  After Joo Dee mentioned the history of this world she had recognized the emblems they had chosen to mark into their skin, and she recognized the way their bearing had radiated hostility when they first walked in.  She had expected them to storm off in a huff after their race, especially with the way Effessel had described their racing pride, and when they instead walked over she had prepared for direct aggression.  These seemingly honest compliments had not been a part of either prediction.

 

"Yeah, so we were just stopping in for the one race and we're gonna be heading out."  This was the first person who had spoken, again.  "Why don't you come with us?  You're obviously not from around here, we could show you around town and I'd love if you could show me some of your moves."  Just like before there was encouragement from the rest of the group, but this time the tone was a little bit different.  Just a  _little_ bit off from what had come before, and it was a tone she was easily able to recognize.

 

"No, thank you," Asami said, "That was just my first race, and we are all going to take a turn."  The entire group tensed at her refusal, and she felt Korra shift beside her as it become obvious that the skinheads were not going to be magnanimous after their loss after all.  Over their heads, Asami could see that the family who had just come in, which Effessel had gone back to the desk to help, were hurriedly leaving.  Effessel herself was whispering into a phone while glancing back at them, and Asami resigned herself to the fact that this really was going to be one of  _those_ encounters again.

 

Now Georgie stepped forward, and there was none of the false-sincerity (Or whatever it was) from the rest of the group in his voice.  "Don't be like that, let us show you around."  His grin was ugly, and could not even have been softened by calling it a 'leer'.  "We'll give you the full show."  Just like with the compliments before there was a general assent from the crowd, but this time they all carried the same harsh undertone Asami had already noticed.

 

Before Asami could respond to Georgie, she heard Joo Dee suddenly speak beside her.  Asami almost started, not even noticing when Joo Dee had stepped up beside them, and given the way Georgie twitched he had not noticed her either.  "She said 'no'."  Joo Dee's voice was flat, deliberately calm and measured, and Asami was momentarily confused at the change until she realized that she hadn't heard her speak like that since she and Korra had (technically) been her prisoners.  Back when they had been rescued off the ice by the Canadian forces almost a year ago.  "Now be on your way."

 

Georgie turned to face Joo Dee squarely, and his heated expression congealed as his eyes flicked over her.  "I don't think we were speaking to you, so why don't you sit back down."  He held her gaze for deliberate moment, until it was obvious that Joo Dee _wasn't_ sitting back down, and then he added another word on to the end of the sentence.  Just one word.

 

Asami was still not completely at ease with English, and she did not know the precise meaning of what Georgie had said, but the way he said it conveyed all the information she needed to understand it.  Everything and more.  So she was not surprised when Joo Dee tensed up beside her in response.

 

What  **did** surprise her was the way Tapeesa suddenly ran past Korra and bowled Georgie over with her shoulder in his gut.


	139. Chapter 139

As she toppled down to the ground atop Georgie, a tiny portion of Tapeesa's mind tried to tell her all of the reasons that it was a very bad idea for her to have jumped him like this.  She knew that they did not need to attract attention, and this eliminated any chance of a quiet ending to their encounter.  She also knew that Georgie probably wouldn't have any compunctions about hurting her in return, and he looked like he was twice her size.  To top it all, despite the wild adventure she'd been on for the past year, she knew that she hadn't been in a real fight since Willie Jonsson broke the ambulatory C-3PO figure that she had brought to school to loan to a friend, and she wasn't really prepared to start now.

 

A much larger part of her mind, however, was only regretting that she didn't know enough about hand-to-hand combat to really pound Georgie into the dirt.

 

Still, even though she didn't have Korra or Asami's ninja skills, or even Judy's military training, she remembered enough from the self-defense classes that she took in college to take advantage of her position.  As they hit the ground and Georgie began to trash and curse (She tuned out whatever it was he was trying to say), Tapeesa focused everything she had on drawing back her right leg, bending the knee, and then bringing it up between his legs as hard as she could.

 

It had been years since she had played with her intramural football team, but back in high school she had been the leading placekicker, and she was aiming for somewhere right around the center of his chest.  She might not have been in as good a shape as she used to be, and she probably could have given it more strength ten years ago, but when she felt the solid, heavy impact she knew that it would be enough.

 

Georgie didn't so much scream as he did  _wheeze_ , and Tapeesa had to jerk back quickly to avoid being headbutted as he spasmed and began to curl in on himself.  Instead of getting off of him, Tapeesa put both hands on his shoulders and pushed him down flat to the ground, then leaned in so she was whispering right into his ear.  "Listen very carefully.  If you ever say that again, if you even  _think_  it again, this will seem like a fond memory compared to what happens next."  When she started to lean back she was briefly worried that he might try and grab her, but as soon as she climbed off him he began to curl into a ball and rolled onto his side as he gasped.  Whatever he might have wanted to do, apparently right now all he  _could_ do was lie there fighting not to retch as tears streamed down his face.

 

Tapeesa wasn't normally one to take pleasure at somebody else's suffering, but as Georgie blubbered at her feet she didn't try very hard to tamp down the excitement which jolted through her.

 

Then she remembered the posse that had been there to back up Georgie, and her excitement cooled in a second.  Fighting the urge to begin shaking herself, she forced as much confidence as she could into her voice and stammered out, "Uh...who else wants some?"

 

Glancing around, she saw that there was nobody left to take her challenge.

 

* * *

 

 As Tapeesa began to climb back to her feet, Korra looked towards the entrance and saw the door finish swinging closed, cutting off her view of the backs of the fleeing skinheads.  When Tapeesa had taken Georgie by surprise, Korra had expected the situation to devolve into a general brawl, but instead Georgie's followers had scattered almost the instant that they hit the ground.  Korra hadn't even managed to take a step forward before they had turned  _en masse_  and fled the building.  By the time Tapeesa rose to face the mob the hall was empty except for them and Effessel behind the counter, still with the phone pressed to her ear and a slackjawed expression on her face.  Belatedly, Effessel turned towards the door and yelled "And stay out!" then hurriedly turned back to the phone and said "No, not you".

 

For a moment it was almost completely silent, until Tapeesa let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh.

 

"Are you okay?" Joo Dee asked as she stepped towards Tapeesa.

 

"Yeah, I mean...of course.  I just...whoo."  Tapeesa began to take a step, and then almost collapsed on to one of the seats next to them, breathing deeply.  Joo Dee lowered herself into a seat next to her and leaned over, wrapping her arms around Tapeesa as she began to shake.  Without letting go she turned to look at Korra and mouthed 'We should go' and nodded her head towards Effessel.

 

Stepping over Georgie's body -- Korra checked to make sure he was breathing, and noted that he hadn't managed to keep himself from retching after all -- Korra quick-stepped over to the counter and tried to pull back Effessel's attention.  "We need to go," she said.

 

"Hold on," Effessel said as she placed her hand over the phone's microphone, "The cops are on the way, they'll be here in a minute."

 

"Thank you, but it would be better if we just left now."

 

"Don't worry, I saw the whole thing.  I'll tell them that Georgie was trying to start something."  Before Korra could say anything, Effessel put the phone back up against her ear and said "Yes, I'm still here.  No, I won't hang up."

 

Korra was going to try and get her attention again, but then she caught the faint sound of a siren.  It sounded far away, but since they were inside it was probably a lot closer than it seemed.  Turning around, she hurried back over to where Joo Dee was helping Tapeesa back to her feet, and where Asami had rolled Georgie on to his side again so that he didn't choke.  "The police are almost here, we should leave now."

 

Asami looked back and forth between the front door and Effessel on the phone, then nodded quickly and glanced around.  "There is an emergency exit on the far wall, that should bring us outside and out of view of the main entrance.  Are you ready to go?"

 

Tapeesa grunted in acknowledgement and gave a shaky grin.  "All set when you are."

 

"Let's go," Asami said, and they casually -- but briskly -- began walking towards the exit.  They had almost reached the door when Effessel apparently realized what they were doing, because her sudden shout of "hey, wait!" reached them just before they pushed through and wound up outside.  They were around a corner of the building, standing in an alleyway that wasn't visible from the main parking lot, and just as the door closed behind them they heard what must have been the police car pull up to the front entrance.

 

Listening carefully after the car stopped, Korra turned to the others and said "It's probably just the one car.  If we wait until they are inside and speaking to Effessel, we can get back to our car and drive away."

 

"Assuming Effessel doesn't just point them out this door," Joo Dee said.

 

"Yes, assuming that," Korra agreed.  "I am going to check to make sure that we won't be seen."  Exchanging a quick nod with Asami, who she knew would keep an eye on the still-shaking Tapeesa while she was taking in the wider view, Korra stepped to the side and then leapt up to the top of the building.  Propelling herself onto the roof with a gust of wind, Korra lightly made her way towards the front overhang and observed the parking lot.

 

As she thought, there was only one single police car parked in front, and it looked like there was nobody still in the car.  Assuming there had been two officers dispatched, they had probably both gone inside to deal with the fight that Effessel had called them about.  There _were_ an assortment of people scattered around the parking lot, but they seemed to  be passersby who wandered over to see what was happening, and not specifically watching for anything.  If the police stayed inside to tend to Georgie and take Effessel's statement, and there were no more cars coming, they could casually walk to their own car and just easily cruise away.

 

Unfortunately, the sudden half-completed shout of "Freeze!" that ended with a gasp and the brief sound of a struggle quickly dispelled any thoughts of "casual".

 

Korra turned and ran back to the edge of the roof where she had jumped up, and looked down to see Asami sitting astride a police officer that was face-down on the ground, with the same door they had exited just swinging closed again.  Asami glanced up at almost the same instant, and Korra could read her expression as clearly as if she had spoken.  Dropping down from the roof and crouching next to her, Korra shook her head and said "Hey,  **I** just wanted a nice relaxing afternoon."   The cop's arms were bound by what looked to be his own handcuffs, and Korra reached out to grab them and squeeze gently.  Hopefully bending them enough so that it would require the other police inside to deal with getting them off before they could do anything else.  "Come on, now we need to hurry."

 

With Asami taking the lead and Korra following slightly behind to keep an eye on both Tapeesa and Joo Dee, they rounded the corner and did their best to blend in with the gaggle of other pedestrians who were wondering what was going on.  They managed to make it back to their car without attracting any undue notice, and it wasn't until they were reaching the exit and merging into traffic that Korra noticed the main entrance open and the police come rushing out.

 

By then they were were just one car melting away into the general haze.


	140. Chapter 140

"Tapeesa wasn't very clear, but from what I gathered it's supposed to be close to Pro-Bending."  Korra said as she and Asami wound their way through the parking lot, following the small crowd that was funneling towards the building entrance.  Looking at the small venue she amended, "Or amateur-pro-bending at least."

 

"You're not going to try and jump into the match, are you?" Asami teased.

 

"I think I'll be happy just to spectate this time," Korra answered.

 

"Are you sure?  What if there's a mysterious player no-show and the dreamy team captain trolls the audience for a last minute fill-in?"  Asami somehow managed to get the question out with a straight face, but it was a struggle.  "What then, huh?"

 

Korra couldn't help but start to laugh when Asami got to 'dreamy team captain', but she got it under control in time to respond.  "Well, if  _that_ happened I suppose I'd have no choice but to step forward and volunteer, but really, what are the odds of that happening twice to the same same Avatar?  I think this time we can count on just an uneventful night where I get to stay in the seats with everybody else."

 

"I hope so.  I don't want to have to win you over  _again_."  Asami leaned down quickly to peck Korra on the cheek as they passed inside.

 

Still grinning, they walked up to the table which was set up just inside the doorway, and Korra smiled at the young woman and said "Four tickets for roller derby, please".

* * *

 

 "There they are!  Joo Dee!  Tapeesa!  Over here!" Korra waved as she shouted, and she saw the two women turn in her direction from the entrance where they were passing off their tickets.  Apparently catching sight of her, they waved back through the crowd.  "We've got seats over here!"  Satisfied that they saw her, Korra sat back down and checked to make sure that the two extra seats she and Asami had blocked off were still open after all.

 

"I had no idea this would be so packed," Asami said, trying to keep track of Tapeesa and Joo Dee as they picked their way through the maze of bodies and chairs that was scattered on the outside of the roller rink.  "You would have thought we would have heard of this sport if it was so popular."

 

Korra nudged aside a couple that seemed to be angling for the two spare chairs, then shrugged.  "You'd be surprised what kind of underground stuff you might not have heard about, no matter how popular it is."

 

"What, you mean like the Earthbending fights you stumbled into before you came back to Republic City?"

 

Korra didn't quite blanch at Asami's response, but she clearly hadn't expected that specific of a retort.  "Uh...yeah.  Like those."

 

"Oh, Korra, everybody knew about those."  Asami's response was so deliberately even that Korra didn't even need to see her arched eyebrow.  "That's where Pro-Bending started."

 

"Well, excuse me and my sheltered South Pole upbringing again."

 

Now obviously grinning, Asami let a little slyness into her voice.  "You just wanted to bring that story up again, didn't you?"

 

"....maybe".  Korra was saved from having to explain any further when Tapeesa and Joo Dee finally made it over to them.

 

"I had no idea this would be so crowded," Tapeesa said as Joo Dee lowered herself into her chair with an audible groan of relief.

 

"I thought you had attended a game before?" Asami asked.

 

"No, I just saw the movie, I've never actually shown up to one of these things in person."  Still looking around at the filled seats that surrounded them, Tapeesa just shook her head.  "How did you get these four seats together?"

 

"Oh, we have our ways," Asami said as she theatrically batted her eyelashes.

 

"Uh-huh.  Did those 'ways' put anybody in the hospital?" Joo Dee asked.

 

"No.  At least, I don't think so, but I suppose you never know..."  Korra let herself fade off, and grinned at the look Joo Dee gave her.

 

"I think we're in the family section," Tapeesa said, nodding to the clustered groups of older people shepherding around kids.  "I'd guess that they each know somebody who's actually playing tonight."

 

"All of them?" Joo Dee asked.

 

Looking around and taking in the semi-uniformity of the audience, Asami nodded in agreement.  "The place isn't that big.  If everybody on the team has their parents or their kids here, that would just about do it."

 

Korra looked around at the audience as well, then towards the screen down at the far wall with a ticking clock counting down towards zero.  "I think we're about to get started soon."

 

"Excellent, I am _pumped._ "  Tapeesa's excitement was apparent.  "Are you ready for blood-and-guts action!?"

 

"Calm down," Joo Dee said as she reached over and patted her knee.  "There's children present, I doubt we're going to see  _too_ much blood."

 

"Probably, but...I mean we might get a  _little_ blood, right?"  Tapeesa's tone was almost plaintive.

 

"Sure, I guess we can always hope for at least some blood," Joo Dee soothed.

 

"Well that's all right then," Tapeesa agreed, and Korra and Asami grinned at each other as they watched the interplay.  Then somebody in roller skates came up to their section of the audience and blew a whistle for attention and started to lay out the rules of the game.

 

A few minutes later the action began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started attending real-life roller derby matches after reading "[Only By the Night](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3252002)" by [theSyndra](http://archiveofourown.org/users/theSyndra/pseuds/theSyndra). It's a great local sport.
> 
> "The movie" that Tapeesa refers to is _Whip It_ , the 2009 sports drama starring Ellen Page and directed by Drew Barrymore. There actually is a Roller Derby league back in Squamish that Tapeesa could have been going to for years (The [ Sea to Sky Sirens](https://www.facebook.com/Sea.to.Sky.Sirens/)), but I doubt she would have thought to actually look for it back before all this wackiness started happening to her.
> 
> This match that they're attending is the April 11, 2015 match between the Jerzey Derby Brigade Corporal Punishers and the Brandywine Roller Girls Brawlers.


	141. Chapter 141

"No, Korra, we really can't afford it".  Asami's voice was almost plaintive as she looked up at the brightly-colored theater marquee, practically leaning back against Korra pulling her forward.

 

"Come on, it took us almost an hour to suffer through that traffic, we need to make it worth our while!"  Korra held Asami's hands tightly, almost as though she was prepared to bodily pull her through the doorway.  "You told me you used to love going to see  _Love Amongst the Dragons_ over and over again, remember?"

 

"Korra, I was  _ten!_  And if you'll remember, I had a wealthy industrialist father who could afford to pay for the tickets...and might have bankrolled the theater company, too."  Asami's voice had lost a little bit of its stridency, but she still kept her position.  "Right now we still need to make sure that we can all eat tomorrow."

 

"Joo Dee and Tapeesa said they'll be busy for the rest of the day at Times Square, so that means we're on our own."  Korra finally stopped pulling on Asami's arms, but instead she stepped up beside her and gripped her shoulders to turn her around and look at the busy city street behind them.  "What else are we going to be able to do for a few hours that won't also cost money?  Practically every TV show we've seen in this world was about how expensive everything is in this city!  So, we can either spend too much money out there, or we can spend too much money right here.  And considering how Tapeesa's jaw dropped when she saw the signs for this show, I think it's a very easy answer."

 

"Well..." Asami's resistance was obviously wavering, and Korra leaned in close, almost whispering in her ear.  "When are we ever going to get another chance like this?  When are we _ever_ going to be here again?"

 

"How are we even going to be able to get tickets?" Asami's last defense was to fall back on the bare logistics, and since the line for ticket holders was already forming up well in advance she had a point.  Korra, however, had prepared for this final hurdle.  "I looked into that, and the show has a  _cancellation line._ We just wait there in case anybody who already has tickets calls to cancel, and then we can pick them up for cheap!  Well, cheap **er** anyway.  And if it turns out that nobody cancels and we can't get tickets, then you get your wish and we wander the streets aimlessly until it's time to meet up with Joo Dee and Tapeesa again."

 

Asami's resolve finally cracked, and she huffed out a breath that might have held the word "fine", and then she and Korra turned back and walked towards the  _Fun Home_ box office.

* * *

 

As they stood in Times Square, indistinguishable from the thousands of other tourists filling the area, Tapeesa and Judith stared up at the famous landscape in silence.  Reaching out to take Tapeesa's hand, Judith was the first to speak, "Remember when we talked about coming here?"

 

Squeezing her hand, Tapeesa nodded sagely.  "Yeah, you wanted to meet the cast of  _Friends."_

 

" _Friends_?  Are you kidding?" Judith's voice was shocked.  "We grew up on _S_ _einfeld_.   _Friends_ was just a half-hour placeholder."

 

"Uh-huh, so is that why you were always mooning over Courtney Cox?" Tapeesa teased.

 

"No, that wasn't..." Judith almost sputtered, then shook her head.  "Look, I'm trying to talk about a shared childhood memory, so let's stay focused.  Okay?"  Taking Tapeesa's grin as an agreement, she continued.  "My point was that we used to talk about coming to New York when we were older.  Or...running away to New York when we weren't that much older."

 

Tapeesa shrugged at that.  "What kid  _hasn't_ talked about leaving home and going to New York?  Isn't that an entire genre on Netflix?"

 

"True.  Very true.  It's just...now we're here, and we get to do the tourist bit, but I'm also thinking: We're never going to be here again.  I mean, we could come back tomorrow if we want -- but if we do we're definitely taking a train and not going through that tunnel again -- but in a few months we're going to be in....what are we calling it?  Another dimension?  Alternate reality?"  Judith wound down as she stumbled over the wording.

 

"I think we decided on just 'the other world'."

 

"Right, thanks.  Well, we're going to be in the other world and we'll never be able to come back again."  Her tone wasn't sad, not exactly, but there was definitely melancholy.

 

"Uh-huh.  Judy, I have to ask: What was it about being surrounded by people in Minions costumes posing with kids that got you to finally realize the enormity of what we're facing?"  With her free hand Tapeesa gestured at the tourist milieu which surrounded them, including the dozens of models in garish superhero and muppet costumes trying to attract attention.

 

"What?  No, it's not  _that_ , it's just...I suppose the Minions are emblematic of the world we're going to be leaving behind.  The costumes might not have been a specific part of my childhood fantasy, but they're still a part of the city, and I suppose it's all just coming together.  I haven't even wanted to visit New York for a while, the last time I passed through the States I never even thought about stopping over, but now that we're here...this is it."

 

"Yes, this is it." Tapeesa agreed.  "And I understand what you mean.  Last week I almost started crying when I realized I wouldn't be able to see that new  _Star Wars_ movie coming out in a few months.  And I don't even  **like**   _Star Wars!_ But when I made that connection it brought everything else into stark focus."

 

Judith nodded, and halfway turned to look at one of the families posing for the photographs they were just discussing.  "I don't...there's a lot I don't want to leave behind.  Even knowing that I don't have a choice, that I'm wanted for treason and frankly don't have any kind of life to go back to even if I _could_ go home, I still don't want to leave.  I....god, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to see that new _Star Wars_ movie."

 

That wrung a startled laugh out of Tapeesa, who squeezed Judith's hand again, this time pulling her closer for a hug as well.  "I know.  I don't want to leave either, for all the same stupid reasons, but we  _don't_ have a choice.  And besides, for everything we're leaving behind, think of what we're going to be able to see.  We'll have that whole other world to explore!  Maybe we'll become benders when we get there!  Imagine that, shooting fire out of your fingers!  And, big bonus points, our introductions will be from a business tycoon and their embodiment of god, so we are going to be  _set_."

 

Now it was Judith's turn to laugh, and she hugged tightly before breaking away.  "Always got your eye on the prize, don't you?  Keep that up."

 

"You know it.  Now, since this  _is_ going to be our one and only visit to New York, shall we get one of those Minions photos?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a commitment yesterday: Back to once-a-day updates until this story is finished (or at least until something specific happens to interfere).
> 
> Yesterday's chapter was just so...underwhelming. Especially after a five month hiatus. I didn't even show any actual roller derby, which was such a missed opportunity (I'll probably go back and re-write that later). So, I'm driving ahead and not letting it sit fallow for another half a year, we're getting this _done_.
> 
> Let's do it.


	142. Chapter 142

Asami sat on the boardwalk bench, with her back to the beach and holding the guitar she'd bought at the flea market down in Florida a few months ago.  She'd been practicing with it off-and-on ever since, and now she had a binder laying open on the boardwalk in front of her, displaying the song sheets that she had printed out at the library a few days earlier.  With the sound of the surf behind her, and the general hum of pedestrians on the boardwalk in front of her, there was enough ambient noise for her to feel comfortable trying out the new songs.  Glancing at her positions one last time, she closed her eyes briefly, took a quick breath, and then her fingers began tentatively following along with the notes as she started to sing.

 

" _Telephone wire, run and run_ _//_

_Telephone wire, sundown on the creek._

_Partly frozen, partly flowing//_

_Must be windy, trees are bending._

_Junction 50 fields needs--"_

 

She came to a sudden stop when a passerby seemed to throw something at her, and instinctively she was halfway off the bench with her arm drawn back before she realized that he wasn't trying to attack her.  Instead he had just tossed a coin into the guitar case that she had left open next to her bench.  She stared at the coin numbly for a second (A nickel) before she turned and began to call after the pedestrian that she wasn't busking, but stopped when she felt Korra's hand on her shoulder.  "Leave it," Korra said, "consider it a compliment.  How many people get paid for their very first public performance?"

 

Asami was still half-standing, but settled back down onto the bench at the feel of Korra's hand on her arm.  "Very true.  Although....only a  _nickel_?"

 

Reaching down, Korra picked up the nickel and slid it into her pocket.  "Hey, you've only been playing for two months, take what you can get."

 

"Maybe I _should_ start busking?" Asami thought.  "It would give me something to do, and do you remember how much money you made on that one day back up in Montreal?"

 

"I remember that that was probably what tipped the police off to what we were doing, and we had to flee the city," Korra chided, "And you've  _still_ only been practicing for two months."

 

"Ah, right.  So...you're saying that I'm already so good that my rapid and miraculous skill set would become an internet sensation and give away our location?"

 

Korra stared at her askance for a second before she nodded vigorously and said, "Absolutely, that is exactly what I was thinking."

 

"Good, that's what I thought you were saying."  Asami hefted the guitar for a few seconds as though testing it, then laid it down in its case and closed the lid.  "In that case I think I'll call it a day for now.  Shall we wander and see what the boardwalk has to offer?"

 

"Well, if you're sure about abandoning your plans for musical fame so quickly..." Korra held up her hands in appeasement when Asami turned to glare at her, "...let's go wander the boardwalk."

* * *

 

As they stopped at the intersection of two streets and glanced down first one and then the other, Tapeesa theatrically turned in a circle and said "Judy, I think we're lost".

 

"We're not  _lost_ , we're just...."

 

"'Directionally challenged'?" Tapeesa offered helpfully.

 

"Absolutely." Judith agreed, and looked down both streets again.  In theory it actually shouldn't have been hard to find their way back to the boardwalk -- all they had to do was walk east and eventually they would hit the ocean -- but the practice after they walked inland was a little bit more complicated than they had expected.  The roads all seemed to be at sharp angles from one another, none that they could find were running directly east/west, and neither of them wanted to follow one road to the beach only to wind up a mile down from where they were aiming for.

 

They hadn't been headed anywhere in particular when they separated from Korra and Asami, they were just browsing some of the small shops and booths along the boardwalk and they'd gotten stuck in a chain of stores that lead them further and further into the town.  They had spent time in several fun and unique establishments along the way (At Tapeesa's prodding Judith wound up buying a sleek dark-brown fedora since she'd never really allowed herself to experiment with hat-wear before), but now that they needed to head back they were faced with a very twisty route to retrace their steps, and neither was looking forward to walking in circles.  It was getting dark as well, and neither wanted to be stuck making blind turns when they couldn't see.  A direct line back to the beach would have been better than going back on the same corkscrew path, but as they both now realized, that direct path wasn't very obvious.

 

"They probably did this on purpose, you know," Judith said wisely.  "They wanted to make sure the tourists couldn't escape."

 

Tapeesa bobbed her head in agreement.  "It's practically a tesseract".

 

"Listen you..." Judith began, then abruptly began crossing the street when the light signal changed.  "I think this is our best bet. And if we're off..."  She shrugged her shoulders, and Tapeesa shrugged right back.

 

They made it a few blocks towards the beach on the same road, but as they did it became apparent that they had distinctly left the "tourist" area of the town.  They unconsciously moved a little closer to each other as they walked, and they noticed that the people they passed on the road were averting their eyes and giving off the general vibe of 'I don't see you, you don't see me' which came with some rougher neighborhoods.  They weren't even half a mile from where they had started with the charming, brightly lit shops and genial crowds of out-of-town tourists, but the change was stark, and without saying anything to each other they both picked up the pace as best they could.

 

A few blocks on and the surroundings became even more noticeably run down.  Both of them did the math and realized that they had to be at least  _close_ to the boardwalk, so it wasn't worth it to turn around and try to retrace their steps, but as they prepared to cross another street Judith suddenly stopped as her attention was caught by the sounds coming from the alley they were passing.  The noises were low and muffled, but the air was charged enough that she could recognize the sounds of violence.  Gesturing Tapeesa to be quiet, she slowly approached the entryway and leaned in.

 

The sun had sunk low enough that everything was hazy and indistinct, but she could make out the two figures just down from the alley entryway.  One was lying on the ground, halfway curled up into a fetal position, and the other was standing over the first, delivering steady, repeated kicks to the prone person.  Most of the blows were to the small of the downed person's back, but Judith could smell the sticky scent of blood already in the air, and she saw what little light there was glittering off of the edge of a knife.  Judith had to force herself not to suck in an audible breath, and quickly motioned Tapeesa back out of sight.  She couldn't crouch down to keep from being seen, but she leaned against the wall to lower her profile as she quickly ran through what they could do.

 

It had been almost two months since their last bout with random violence at the go-kart raceway, and Judith had hoped that they could have gone even longer without stumbling into some sort of crime.  Tapeesa had handled herself well -- _very_ well -- against those skinheads, and Judith's own physical rehabilitation and mobility had gone to amazing lengths of recovery, but she was under no illusion that she had returned to fighting trim.  If Korra and Asami were there, it would be a simple matter for the two of them to quickly, easily and safely disable whatever was happening.  Either of them could have the attacker unconscious or restrained in seconds, and they could then see to whatever treatment was necessary for the victim and resolve on any follow-up measures.  Unfortunately, without that support, Judith's options were limited.

 

Her thoughts stole to the pistol that she had secured into her waistband, but she didn't reach for it.  She had carried the Kel-Tec pistol almost everywhere since they picked it up off the drug deal in Louisiana, reassured by its presence and by her ever-increasing familiarity with a left-handed draw.  Tapeesa had helped her craft an inside-waistband holster some time back so they wouldn't attract attention, too.  But even though it would have been easy with her resurgent skill, Judith knew she couldn't just start shooting at the person standing in the alley.  She didn't know the circumstances of whatever was going on, and she didn't know who had started whatever was happening.  She had been a soldier in her old life, but to blunder into this situation by resorting to lethal force as a first and blind resort was the mark of a careless killer.  And if she only  _threatened_  the attacker with the pistol, it was still all too likely that she'd need to use it if he tried to use his knife, or had any other weapons that she couldn't see.  Plus, Tapeesa didn't have any experience in subduing or restraining somebody who could fight back, and Judith couldn't tie him up while holding him at gunpoint.  So she left the pistol in its holster.

 

Her hand tightened on the head of her cane as she thought, and when she realized what she was grasping she looked down quickly.  She had been using the wooden rod for a few months now, ever since Korra's waterbending therapies had allowed her to stop relying on the leg braces and heavier crutch for movement, and it was so ingrained in her casual walking that she had almost forgotten about it.  Nowadays when she was moving around she didn't even think about the fact that she was holding it.  But now...Korra had shaped it for her based on a knobkerrie design that Tapeesa had found on-line while they were still staying in Florida, and the rounded head turned the walking stick into a functional club.  Judith had laughed when Tapeesa first pointed it out, but given the situation now facing them...

 

Turning back to Tapeesa, Judith tried to convey 'stay here' as best she could, then turned back towards the alley.  She took a deep breath, then focused on the three--no four--steps she estimated she would have to take to reach them.  Reaching lower, she gripped her cane midway down the shaft, and settled herself.  Taking another breath, she braced herself, and then she dashed forward, approaching closer to a  _run_ than she had in a while.  On her fourth step she brought down the head of her cane as precisely as she could right on the wrist of the hand holding the knife.

 

It wasn't as strong or as precise as it would have been with her right arm, and her balance was still very unstable on the half-trot she managed, but it was enough as she felt bones  _snap_ and the air was suddenly filled with a surprised, and very loud, curse that segued into a scream halfway through.  Despite the shouting, she could also hear the clear tinkling as the knife fell to the pavement.

 

Now came the part she was very worried about.  She had rehearsed repeatedly with a metal mockup, practicing over and over again on many nights when the four of them had made camp, but this was the first time she tried to actually quick-draw the pistol in a dangerous situation.  Nonetheless, once she heard the knife hit the ground and saw that the person was twisting away from her as he cradled his wrist, she dropped her cane and reached under the trailing edge of her shirt to wrap her fingers around the pistol's grip.  Drawing the pistol out in a single smooth, clean motion, Judith leveled it at the still-cursing man and reached back to her old life to drag out the bellows she used to use on a daily basis.  Finding that the bombastic sergeant's voice was still there, he froze mid-step as her voice cut the night with a single shouted "FREEZE!"

 

Everybody was motionless for a beat, and then Judith called behind her "Tapeesa, come out and find something to bind his hands".

* * *

 

"Do you think Tapeesa managed to talk Joo Dee into expanding her wardrobe?" Korra asked.

 

"I'm sure she did.  She said she wouldn't let up until there was at least something new in her ensemble." Asami smiled as she remembered the whispered conversation before the two pairs had split off.  "'Frilly' was the term she used, but I'm not sure if I believe she can push Joo Dee quite that far."

 

"Even if it's not 'frilly', it's good that she thinks she can get Joo Dee to break out a bit.  Sometimes it feels like she still packs for the army, won't let herself have anything but the necessities in case something suddenly happens."  Korra shook her head wryly.  "Even I think she can stand to have _some_ fun with her outfit.  I'm glad Tapeesa is giving her a shopping day."

 

Walking down the boardwalk, Korra and Asami both slowed as they saw a crowd beginning to congeal around a stage that had been set up next to what looked like a bar.  It was clearly a concert of some type, which they had seen many of ever since that first music exposure at the Summer Celebration when they were on the road to Montreal, but the makeup of the crowd wasn't quite like any of the shows they had seen before.  Instead of being dominated by one particular style of clothing or color presentation there was a grab-bag of families, metalheads, and even some of what they had just recently learned were called a "Jersey Shore".

 

Seeing the odd mix, Asami turned to Korra and asked, "I wonder who this crowd is for?".  Korra could only shrug in response, but the curiosity they both felt nudged them each a little bit closer.  The stage was across the street from the boardwalk, so they couldn't actually get  _in_ , but they could see the area clearly from where they were, and a lot of the crowd seemed to be deliberately setting up chairs in the same area.  Approaching a man who was holding what looked like a brochure, Korra tapped him on the shoulder and repeated Asami's question from a moment ago, "Who is performing?"

 

"Hmmm?"  He blinked at Korra for a second, then visibly shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

 

"I asked who is performing.  We are passing through town and do not have any local information."  They had long since figured out that 'I'm passing through town' accounted for pretty much any local knowledge they were suspiciously missing.

 

"Oh, uh, it's Halestorm first, then I think it's The Pretty Reckless later."  He looked down at his watch and added, "they should be coming on stage any minute."

 

"A Halestorm cover band?"  Asami's excitement bubbled up as she remembered the great performances they had already heard from bands playing Halestorm's music, and Korra felt her own emotions rising to match.

 

"What?  No, not a cover band, it's Halestorm.  Uh, hold on a sec."  He flipped through the brochure he was holding, then held it out to the two of them, showing a picture of the band that they had discovered when they had first begun to research the music they heard.  "It's the Carnival of Madness tour, see?"

 

Korra and Asami's jaws didn't -- quite -- drop, but it was a close thing.  "They're  _here_?" Asami practically shouted.

 

"Yeah, just...here they come." He said and pointed to the stage, and this time Korra and Asami's jaws  _did_ drop as they recognized Lzzy Hale leading the band to their instruments.  Barely pausing to thank the man who had given the info, they both turned and dived into the crowd to get as close to the performance as they could.  Since they were still on the other side of the road they didn't wind up that much closer, but it was enough when the band finally picked up their instruments and began to play.

 

It was the same song they had first heard more than half a year ago at that small town festival performed by energetic kids, and then again with Janice's band a few days after that.  They had also heard the original version several times on the radio and after they had learned how to use the internet, but now they were hearing it live, with the band close enough to see, and the music was just as transformative as it had been the very first time they ever heard it.  As it washed over them Korra even forgot to dance, standing almost in a trance, until she felt Asami's hand on her arm and she pulled her into a swirling mass of people throwing themselves into the music.

 

Before she lost herself completely to the music, Korra reflected that it felt like when she had first come to Republic City so many years ago.  She remembered the night, after her first Pro-Bending match, when she sat on Air Temple Island and looked across the bay to the arena.  She was enraptured by the city, by the sheer energy and excitement of performing, by the huge rush she felt as thousands of people in the audience were cheering for her because of what she'd  _done_ , not just because of what she was (And, she could admit now, also a little heady because of the feelings she had had for Mako).  That night it seemed like she could see the whole world in front of her, reflected in the city lights on the water, and that was how it felt now.

 

For Asami the memory was older, back before everything had turned upside-down with the Equalists and her father.  She remembered when she had first really cut loose behind the wheel of a satomobile on the Future Industries racetrack.  It wasn't the first time she'd ever driven at all -- she'd had plenty of lessons and practice turns -- but it was the first time that she wasn't focusing on just making it around the track, she was testing to see how quickly she could do it.  How fast she could go while still keeping control, pushing the limits of what her car and herself could handle.  And compared to how well she could drive now she recognized that it had still been a very slow, sedate trip, and a few years later she had learned that the mechanics had rigged the car to a reduced speed to make sure she didn't hurt herself, but the sensation of how it felt to really  _go_ had stuck with her.  And that was hiw it felt again.

 

And for both of them, for a brief second before they surrendered completely, they remembered that it was the first song they had danced to on their first official date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Asami was singing at the start is "Telephone Wire" from the play _Fun Home_ , which she and Korra saw in NYC last chapter. _Fun Home_ is a beautiful, heartbreaking musical play based on the autobiographical graphic novel of the same name by Alison Bechdel, who is perhaps better known for her comic strip _Dykes to Watch Out For_ and the 'Bechdel Test' which came out of it. "Telephone Wire" in particular is about the very last car ride that Alison and her father had together before his death -- which she believes was a suicide -- and in retrospect Alison desperately tries to find some sort of deeper connection and meaning there so she has **something** to hold on to in her memory.
> 
> That's something Asami would have latched on to.
> 
> You can see a lyric video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_US4P9zPQQ
> 
> Asbury Park is a beach community in New Jersey that is simultaneously "up and coming" in some areas and in pretty bad shape in others. All told it's still recovering from the massive economic problems that hit it in the 60s and 70s, with investment and redevelopment along the shore and tourist areas, but not much else.
> 
> It only seemed appropriate that K&A managed to actually see Halestorm in concert after the way their music served as the introduction to rock and roll back when they first left Ville de Moors. With their time in our world (hopefully) winding down, they deserved to go out with a bang.
> 
> The show they're catching is Halestorm's May 15, 2015 appearance at the Stone Pony Summer Stage. The Stone Pony is a mainstay and icon of Jersey Rock, and is often seen as a right-of-passage for upcoming American bands regardless of their origin or style.
> 
> You can see the music video for "Love Bites (So Do I)" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkHqUwa4zg


	143. Chapter 143

Straining just a little bit to force it finally shut, Korra closed the trunk with a  _clik_ and leaned forward as she called out front, "Anything else?"

 

"No, I think that covers it."  Asami leaned out from behind the raised hood to respond to Korra, then bent back over the engine to continue adjusting this-and-that.  Nothing had been wrong,  _per se_ , but she always liked to keep it that way, and the best way to do that was to deal with problems when they still weren't actually problems.  Especially as she thought about how, one way or another, she wouldn't be tinkering with this particular engine for much longer.

 

"I've got the ready-bags," Tapeesa said, bringing the stuffed bags containing the bric-a-brac which they used to set up their camp on a daily basis over from the campsite where they had spent the night before and sliding them into the back seat  "We're ready to go."

 

"In that case, let's _go_."  Judith was already sitting in the car, and only keeping herself from tapping her foot with visibly fraying self-control.  She wasn't normally so impatient in the morning, but that was because they normally didn't have specific plans when they broke camp and started driving.  The past few months of travel had been almost a bohemian vacation, and after years of strict scheduling in the RCAF she had seemed to revel in the lack of any predefined destination or target timing.  Now, however...

 

Tapeesa slid into the seat opposite Judy and reached over the ready-bags to take her hand.  "Calm down Judy, it's not like there's a ticking clock."

 

"There is, actually.  Remember?"  Judith's self-control finally slipped and her foot began actively tapping.  Rolling her eyes at the noise, Tapeesa said, "Okay, yes, there is a ticking clock, but it's got a  _month_ on the countdown.  So...chill."

 

Korra and Asami grinned at one another across the car's roof as they heard the two talking, and then Asami slammed the hood down with a satisfying  _thunk_.  "All set, we're good to go", she said, and climbed into the driver's seat after wiping her hands on a drop cloth.

 

"Good," Korra said as she got into the passenger's seat. "I think Joo Dee's going to wear a hole in the floor in another five minutes."

 

"Yeah, yeah, everybody make fun of the one woman keeping her eyes on the goal."  Her grin belied any real sting to the words.  "We'll see who's laughing when I'm the only one who shows up on time."

 

"You have a deal," Korra said.  "If we all miss the solstice and you're the only one who makes it to the North Pole, you have my permission to laugh at us."

 

As Asami pulled onto the road from the small embankment where they had spent the night, Judith stuck her arm over Korra's headset and said "Deal".  Laughing, Korra reached up and shook her hand.

 

On the road, Asami followed the signs pointing towards the Garden State Parkway northbound ramp and merged into the traffic heading up the state.  They wouldn't stay on the GSP for long (Relatively speaking), just enough to get them out of the Jersey Shore region and connect them to the Interstate network that they could follow further north and, eventually, to the Canadian border.

 

They had been ambling generally north for months now, ever since they left Florida after the construction collapse, but they had deliberately not driven too fast or too far north to avoid the complications that would have come from crossing the border too soon.  They knew they were still being hunted for in Canada, branded as foreign terrorists and spies and traitors, but had never seen any indication that the government of the United States was aware that they were even in their territory.  Since nobody was even looking for them in this country, it made all the sense in the world to spend as much time south of the border as they could, where they could buy supplies and prepare -- and have what fun they could find -- without molestation.  Now, though, as the summer solstice approached, Korra & Asami's one window of returning home and Tapeesa & Judith's one window of escaping the accusations dogging their heels, they realized that it was finally time.

 

Time to cross the border back into Canada.  Time to make their final preparations for getting to the North Pole.  Time to say their goodbyes and settle whatever unfinished business they might have.

 

Time, as Judith Moon spent all morning reminding them, to  **go**.


	144. Chapter 144

As they drew near the border where they would cross back over into Canada, Korra again felt herself marveling at the scope of industrialization that permeated this world.  They had left the Interstate highway network several hours ago and were driving along a small, narrow road that itself wouldn't have been too unusual in their own world, except that back home it almost certainly would have been close to -- and connected with -- Republic City or another metropolis.  Large cities back home might have been surrounded by complex road systems, but those dense nests were often separated by huge swathes of unreclaimed land between the urban centers that couldn't be traversed by motorized transport except for a few dedicated connections.  Thinking back to when she and Tenzin had decided to cross the Earth Kingdom in search of new Airbenders, they didn't even have an easy or direct connection from Republic City to Ba Sing Se, they needed an airship for the trip.  This road, however, didn't seem to be going anywhere at all; right now it was running through unpeopled woodland and it connected small town after small town along a hundred-mile stretch that didn't seem to have any singular feature to attract special attention.  The time and money and effort it must have taken to connect  _everywhere_ was still staggering, even after almost a year.

 

Even more than the languages and computers and bending (Or lack thereof), the sheer scale of the mudanities like that was the starkest difference between this world and their own.  The following thoughts about all the similar minor points that came to mind brought a small smile to her face.

 

"What are you smiling about?" Asami asked when she noticed Korra's expression despite no change to their scenery.  "Are you suddenly enraptured by the roads?"

 

"Well....yeah, actually," Korra said, and she almost laughed as Asami quirked an eyebrow in confusion.  "I was just thinking about 'the little things', and yes that includes the roads.  All the small differences from home that we've seen here that were so bizarre when we first got off the ice.  Remember?"

 

"I remember when we thought people could see us through a television and we freaked out that convenience store worker by trying to talk to the newscaster, yes."  Asami's voice was wry, but couldn't hide that little wistful note that came with the memory.  "And how I couldn't believe how much glass they were using in a cheap roadside stopover."

 

"Mm-hmm, and then that guy tried to jump us," Korra added.

 

"What do you..." Asami was nonplussed for a second before she remembered.  "Oh, right,  _that_ guy.  I'd almost forgotten.  That was just after we met Kunik, wasn't it?"

 

"It was.  She brought us home to meet Pete later that day.  I wonder how they're doing?  It's been--"  Korra paused briefly to count "--eight months since we left  _Ville de Moors_ , he's probably back from college already."  Neither Korra or Asami could see the way Joo Dee and Tapeesa rolled their eyes at each other in the back seat at the way they had already brushed over the memory of being attacked by a random man to talk more about the friends they had made that day.  "It'd be nice to check in."

 

"We could, you know," Tapeesa interrupted.  "Popping up into northern Quebec is out of the way, but we've got the time if we push our driving."

 

Asami glanced up at Tapeesa in the rear-view mirror and shook her head.  "I'd love to, but we really couldn't."

 

"Why not?  None of the news reports we could find ever mentioned that you were staying there or talked about the people you were living with, they might not have ever made a connection between you." Tapeesa's confusion was honest, and a reminder that despite the fact that she had technically been a fugitive for months ever since they broke her out of CFB Comox, she was still unused to thinking from the perspective of somebody struggling against a government institution.

 

"Somebody  _has_ to have made the connection, 'Saw," Joo Dee explained.  "If not the RCAF then the CSIS, or the Force.  Even if they couldn't work it back from their direct travel route once they knew that Korra and Asami had been in Montreal, they would have figured it out eventually from that news footage of the car crash when Korra saved that woman in the park.  And once they learned that they were living there for months after they broke out of the transport--" Her voice hitched for just a second as she thought back to that escape from the SuperHerc and everything that happened afterwards. "--they're going to keep an ongoing eye on everybody they knew in town.  If either of them actually showed up in town again there'd be alarms going off in seconds."

 

"Oh," Tapeesa said, quieter.

 

Korra turned around in her seat to speak.  "It's okay, we knew we couldn't go back and visit once we realized that we could be so easily tracked in Montreal, and we did not want to bring any further attention to the people who showed us kindness."  She turned back around and began to settle into the seat again.

 

"Well, whatever we do or don't do in Quebec, we're here," Asami announced, and she gently pulled the car off the road to a stop.  Turning off the engine, she turned to Korra and asked, "Are you ready?"

 

"Oh yes," Korra answered, and climbed out of the car.

 

There were many overland connections between the United States and Canada where they could have simply driven from one into the other, but they had discounted them as soon as they ran into the issues of documentation.  Trying to cross the border without even a driver's license, let alone a passport, was likely to get you investigated and arrested, and for them that would lead to much worse.  They had briefly talked about getting forged paperwork, especially when they had decided on stopping in New York City on the journey north and Tapeesa remembered how her father had joked about how you could by  _anything_ if you were within 25 miles of Times Square, but they had quickly discarded that thought as well.  Not only did they not have the money to pay for truly high-quality passports -- and if they were going to try to bluff the border guards they needed really solid forgeries since they couldn't afford to even get them suspicious -- but none of them had any clue how to contact the kind of people who did this sort of work.  Since a simple crossing out the question, they decided to fall back on their standard standby for getting out of tricky situations: Bending.

 

Right now they were near the northern border of the state of Vermont, which abutted directly with southern Quebec.  Quick research had shown them that large swathes of the state were still unexploited wilderness, without large cities and only sparse roads cutting up the forests, and it would have been relatively easy to hike from one roadway and cross the border on foot.  None of them were looking forward to abandoning their car just yet, though, or for carrying all of their supplies themselves until they could find some new form of transport.  So, they decided to bring their car with them.

 

Korra pulled her glider staff out from where it was wedged between Tapeesa and Joo Dee in the back seat, then glanced around quickly to make sure that there was nobody in sight along the road.  With no cars in either direction she unfolded the wings, then tossed it into the air and leapt up to grab hold.  She wobbled briefly -- it had been  _so long_ since she had been free to fly -- but found her balance and drew up a gust of air to carry her higher.  She had to resist the urge to soar -- the feeling of freedom from airbending again was intoxicating -- but she stayed focused and instead curved in a quick circle to make sure that there were no cars or people approaching that she hadn't been able to see from the ground, and also that there wasn't any sort of obstacle between them and the border.  Seeing nothing but more rolling trees, she took one extra circle just to revel in the airborne motion before dropping down to the ground beside the car.  "All clear."

 

"Give me just one moment."  While Korra had been flying Asami had drawn a map from the glove compartment and was lining it up with a compass, and comparing both to the mile-marker that she had stopped next to.  After inspecting all three she nodded to herself and put away the map, slotting the compass into a set she had installed on the dashboard.  "It should be a straight line in that direction to cross the border and bring us to a road on the other side," she pointed.  "Are you sure you're up for this?"

 

Looking back and forth between the car and trees that stood in the direction Asami had indicated, Korra nodded and said, "Absolutely."

 

"Let's go then."  Asami climbed back inside and re-buckled her seatbelt, then turned to face the back seat.  "Hold on you two."

 

Outside, Korra stood motionless in front of the car as she gauged what she was about to do, then slowly spread her legs as she settled into an earthbending stance.  This was a deep stance, wide and solid, and it drew from the solid core of earthbending's history that deal with endurable rock, not the fusion styles Korra generally preferred.  Leaning forward, she reached out to grab the air and  _twisted,_ pulling her arm down and reaching over with the other to grab and pull as well, turning a giant wheel in constant motion.  As she did the entire section of ground beneath her and the car heaved and shot forward as though pulled by the lever she was working, sliding through a path that opened in front of them as the trees were simultaneously shifted out of the way, filling back in after they had passed.

 

It wasn't quite as fast as if they had been actually driving, but they steadily carved up the distance between the road's edge and the border in less time than any of them had predicted, and with only a few dings to the undercarriage from bouncing pebbles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 250,00 words! Woo Hoo!
> 
> They road they were driving along before crossing was Vermont Route 105 (VT 105), which runs west to east (generally speaking) and comes very close to the US/Canada border (With one spur leading to an official crossing station).
> 
> The inspiration for Korra's bending technique here comes from "The Earth King", when Aang and Toph take a giant slab of rock out of the ground and propel the entire surface up the stairs to the palace.


	145. Chapter 145

Still a little more wobbly than she would have preferred, but infinitely better than she had been when she first started, Janice steadily applied pressure to the hand brake and brought her motorcycle to a stop in the parking lot beside her apartment building.  The breaks squealed as she did so, and the engine coughed as it died, but she still smiled as she lowered the kickstand and swung herself off.  She'd gotten the bike second-hand only a few weeks ago after it finally got warm enough to ride, picking it up the day after she'd gotten her 6A license, and it was barely held together by her good wishes and an extra application of duct tape.  Compared to the smooth precision she remembered from the bike Korra and Asami had ridden around Montreal it barely counted as motorcycle at all, but it was hers and she loved it.

 

As she rode the elevator up to her apartment her thoughts curved around to thinking about how she was still thinking about the two women who had stayed with her for three days last year and all the insanity that had exploded when they had to suddenly flee the city.  She still didn't know what to make of it all.  No more satisfactory explanation than "terrorism" had ever been offered for why the police had been after them, and that explanation had never been expanded with details either.  The way she'd been taken and questioned still stood out starkly as one of the most terrifying memories of her life, and she knew that would never have happened if they hadn't been connected to her, but she also clearly remembered the hurt on both of their faces when they saw the fear on hers, and Asami's last words before they fled the apartment, " _You made very beautiful music Janice_ ".  The fear of what might happen if the police ever figured out that she'd tried to warn them when they called her the next day still popped up every once in a while, but she still felt it was the right thing to do.  Despite what the police had said after she called them, and all the panic on the news, she couldn't convince herself that they were a pair of villains.

 

Just before the elevator  _dinged_ at her floor, Janice twitched as her cell phone rang.  Grumbling as she dug it out, her frown reversed as she saw that it was Bettany calling, even though they had just separated from band practice not even fifteen minutes ago.  "Ahoy-hoy?"

 

"Hey, I'm just checking to make sure you're still alive," Bettany teased.  "Every time you ride off on that rocket I worry we're going to read about you in the papers tomorrow."

 

"Never fear, my dear.  Or at least not today.  I'm starting to really get the hang of this thing," She boasted.

 

"I still can't believe you actually did it, me and Stephanie swore you were jerking us around when you said you'd signed up for the courses."

 

"Well...you know, it's just...it was something I wanted to do as a kid and...why not, huh?"  Janice knew Bettany couldn't actually see her, but she shrugged regardless.  "We're all grown up now, if we can't do the things we wanted to do that our parents wouldn't let us, what's even the point?"  She grinned as she heard Bettany laugh over the phone, then glanced up as the elevator reached her floor and the doors opened.

 

"True, very true," Bettany agreed, "Anyway the real reason I'm calling -- not that I didn't really want to make sure you made it home alive -- is that after you left Stephanie got a call about our gig on Saturday.  There's some kind of health code violation at the club, I think I heard the word 'mold', and so it's been shut down for at least two weeks.    We're out."

 

"What?  Seriously?" Janice wasn't that surprised to hear that there had been a health code violation, frankly she couldn't think of one of the clubs where they'd played that  _didn't_ have an general aura of ickiness, but she didn't expect it to actually be shut down.

 

"Yeah, completely taped off.  But I was wondering, I mean since I know your plans for the night just fell through," Janice heard her take an audible breath.  "Did you still want to go out and do something?  Maybe check out our competition at one of these other dives?"

 

Janice nearly tripped over her own feet when she realized that Bettany had just asked her out, and for a second she couldn't think of anything to say besides, "uh...", but before she could say anything more she reached her apartment and noticed that a long box had been left in front of her doorway.  "Uh...can I call you back?"

 

"Oh, sure, ofcoursewhenever," Bettany started to ramble, and Janice recognized her panic-patter.  "No, not that," Janice quickly jumped in, "I'd like to go out on Saturday, that sounds great.  It's just that I just got to my door and there's a box here for me."

 

"Oh...great!" Bettany's relief was palpable.  "Just...gimme a call when you can and I'll see you on Saturday!"

 

"See you on Saturday," Janice agreed before hanging up, and she imagined that Bettany could hear her smile through the phone.  She'd thought that Bettany had been sending signals over the past few weeks -- ever since she got her bike as a matter of fact --but she hadn't actually expected her to say anything.  Not so out of the blue at least, but maybe with the sudden change to their performance....well, whatever it was she was glad it spurred her to action, but now she turned back to look at the unexpected package.

 

It was a plain cardboard box and it had her name written on it in large letters, but not her address or any sort of postage so somebody must have personally dropped it off.  Her expression tightened as she remembered some of the cruder packages that had been dropped on her doorstep, but it was a little big to hold some disgusting message like that, and when she reached down to pick it up she was surprised to find it had a real solid weight to it.  Not  _heavy_ , but definitely more than air.

 

Curious, she took her keys out of her pocket and cut open the tape on one end to peak inside before bring it into her apartment, and her eyes widened as she realized that there was a guitar case (Presumably with a guitar) inside the box.  "Huh," she said, and brought it all inside.

 

Taking it out of the case, it was an old wooden acoustic guitar.  Clearly well worn, it had also clearly been recently refurbished, with a clean shine to its finish and taught strings running along its neck.  Idly she reached out and plucked a few chords seemingly at random, and nodded as it confirmed that it was properly in tune as well.  She wondered where it had come from and why (She briefly thought that maybe Bettany had left it for the start of a Romantic Gesture in preparation for asking her out, but quickly shook the thought off).  There was no note or message on the cardboard box, and nothing at all on the guitar case itself.  As she turned it over in her hands, she noticed a carving etched into the wood along the back: 美妙的音樂

 

Staring at the Chinese characters, Janice pursed her lips and let out a long, slow whistle before turning the guitar over again.  Cradling it in her arms, she began to pick out notes and softly sang to herself, " _When I find myself in times of trouble..._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I snuck some comic info into one of these end-of-chapter notes, so apropos of nothing I'll lay this out: Do not -- under any circumstances -- read James Robinson's run on _Wonder Woman_. Do not buy the floppy issues or trade paperbacks. Do not purchase the digital copies. Do not give this festering pile of excrement even one iota of your attention. For your sake, and for my own sanity, do not allow it to taint your soul.
> 
> There's no connection to this chapter or anything, I just consider it my civic duty to protect as many as people as possible.
> 
> If you're interested in getting into _Wonder Woman_ , go for Gail Simone's iconic run on the series or either one of Greg Rucka's takes on the character. Just do not, for all that is holy, read the pure heap of trash that is currently being published.
> 
> * * *
> 
> I know just last chapter I had the characters lay out all the reasons why they _couldn't_ go back and visit Ville de Moors, but Janice is a whole different situation. Not only is it a lot easier to go unnoticed in a city like Montreal compared to a small town, but Korra  & Asami literally bumped into Janice on the street and only stayed with her for three days, and they know that Janice herself called the cops after the news broke. After their investigation turns up no connection, the government's reaction is probably going to be that she's either a patsy or just somebody that K&A were exploiting for a place to stay. Ville de Moors, on the other hand, they lived at for months. Asami got a job, they stayed in one of the homes, etc. So, they would assume that there's going to be a _lot_ of suspicion there.
> 
> As a "past associate" the cops probably check every once in a while to make sure that Janice hasn't mysteriously disappeared, but it's reasonable for our characters to assume that she isn't under constant surveillance and think that it's an acceptable risk to sneak in and out.


End file.
